THE NEW MINI CLUBMAN. - Omediaomediaeg.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/evo-issue6.pdfAdam Gould,...

THE NEW MINI CLUBMAN.

ARRIVES IN FEBRUARY 2016.STAY TUNED ON www.clubman.mini.com.

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Ed Speak

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evo Worldwide editors-in-chief

ISSUE 6car of the year 2015

a h m e d e l w a k i l@Motoringperv

For thoSE oF yoU Who don’t knoW, eVo magazine’s slogan is “the thrill of driving”, which makes the magazine’s main focus revolve around presenting our readers

with interesting content that is equally thought provoking and exciting! the magazine you are about to browse is possibly the most engaging issue we have ever launched, so get ready for a page-flipping publication that will stimulate your senses! it will take you to loads of exciting journeys that we have been through during the past couple of months. one of which is our trip to the Uk, where we have been thrashing the mighty nissan Gt-r round the silverstone circuit. i can comfortably tell you that this is one of the best cars i have ever driven; actually, it over exceeded my high expectations in each and every way (Page 24).

from silverstone in england to salzburgring ring in austria, we had the chance to drive the all-new three-door mini John cooper works in treacherous weather conditions. this is a car that can easily define how a characterful small hot hatch should feel, sound and go. to try and wrestle a 231hp front wheel drive small hot hatch in heavy rain was dangerous, yet extremely exciting. you can read all about it on 4.

moving away from racetracks and burned rubber, i was pretty fortunate to meet one of

the most influential people in the car industry; head of Bmw design karim habib, who in spite of his great success is very pleasant and easy to talk to, making him one of the nicest people you can ever converge. we sat at Bmw’s ViP lounge during the 2015 frankfurt motor show and we talked about the insights of their design studios and his passion about design and art (Page 40).

Last but definitely not least, our colleagues back in the Uk concluded their long awaited mega-test; eVo car of the year 2015 packed great and amazing machinery. eleven cars fought hard on the scottish highlands, all just for bringing you eVo’s best car in 2015 right to your doorstep (Page 44).

this issue is a gravely heavy dose of automotive perfection, so sit back, grab your favourite drink and enjoy the ride. don’t forget to leave your comments on our facebook page and use our hash tag #evoegymag or contact me directly via twitter (@motoringperv) or instagram (awakil911). L

F‘get ready for a page-flipping publication that will stimulate your senses!’

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Contributors (words)Simon de Burton, Simon George, Matthew Hayward,

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Managing director Omar [email protected]

C o n t E n t S ISSUE 006 car of the year 2015

d r I v E n020

Ferrari 488 Spider023DS 4 210 THP

F E A t U r E S024

NISSAN GT-r after eight years of waiting, we finally got behind the wheel of Japan’s pride and joy

032NISSAN GT-r NISmo

a le mans winner took us for some flying laps in the track-ready Gt-r

034mINI cooPEr jcw

the most powerful production mini ever proved challenging on a soaking wet

salzburgring

040KArIm HAbIba quick chat with the man behind the timeless Bmw designs

044 cAr oF THE yEAr eleven cars in the spectacular scottish highlands but only one winner

r E G U L A r S011

NEwS Bmw’s m2 arrives along with the most

potent front-engined ferrari ever

018INTErvIEw

oliver sieghart; mini’s head of interior design

082ArT oF SPEEDmore a metaphorical shark’s fin than a duck’s tail, it’s the integrale’s spoiler

nEWSThe best resource online for the latest performance and premium car news

InStAGrAMOur Instagram account takes you behind the scenes (officialevomagazine)

vIdEoDeadly Rivals: our new web and video series putting performance cars head-to-head

rEvIEWSFull multi-page in-depth reviews of every car that matters to evo readers

visitevo.co.uk

evo.co.uk for the latest news,

reviews & videos

You can now download EVO’s latest edition online at www.omediaeg.com


Ferrari

F12TDFBMW

2 SerieSRenault

TaliSmanInterview

Oliver SiegharT

B mw is keen to PUsh the messaGe that the new m2 is a true drivers’ car. stung by criticism of the current Bmw m3

and m4, in both the press and from some owners, the m division’s number-one priority for its latest coupe has been to focus on the car’s dynamics.

then there’s the m2’s heritage. while the fast-coupe lineage of the m3 continues, albeit now wearing an m4 badge, the m2 is better aligned dimensionally with the firm’s history of compact performance coupes: think 1m coupe, the original m3 and even the 2002 turbo.

its similarity to the 1m coupe is clearest. like that car, the m2 features distended bodywork with an aggressive front bumper design that employs trapezoidal blades and air curtains in the outer air intakes. at the rear, the new car touts a quartet of tailpipes, a diffuser element in the rear apron, and the smallest of lip spoilers perched on the trailing edge of the bootlid.

Wide, 19-inch alloy wheels fill the front and rear arches, wrapped in bespoke michelin Pilot super sport tyres. Xenon headlights are standard, while paintwork extends to four choices: alpine white,

BMWM2

b y a n t o n y i n G r a m

n e w s • f i r s t l o o k • r o U n d - U P • i n t e r V i e w

F I R S T L O O K b y a n t o n y i n G r a m p h o t o g r a p h y b y J a m e s l i P m a n

Black sapphire, mineral Grey and long Beach Blue (pictured here).

after the combative exterior, the m2’s interior is borderline disappointing. there’s a steering wheel lifted from the m3 and m4 and the characteristic m shifter, plus contrasting blue stitching on the black leather seats, but otherwise, little differentiates the m2 from humbler 2-series variants.

the clues to its potential are subtle – a speedometer scale pegged at 300kph (186mph) and a rev counter that winds round to 8000rpm.

they hint at the latest iteration of Bmw’s 3-litre straight-six, which features twinPower turbocharging technology and turns out an extra 44bhp over the m235i. Gains stem from a new twin-scroll turbocharger, high-precision injection, double-Vanos variable camshaft timing and Valvetronic variable valve control. the turbocharger is integrated into the exhaust manifold to the benefit of the warm-up phase – vital to reduce internal friction – and fuel efficiency.

the m3/m4 lends some performance parts, including its

pistons and crankshaft main bearing shells, and the m2’s lubrication system has been uprated to reduce the chances of oil starvation during high-speed cornering. Bmw’s active m differential splits torque at the rear, locking in as little as 0.15sec.

two gearbox options will be available on the m2 – a six-speed manual and a seven-speed m dct. while the m2 isn’t the only car in the current m range available with a manual transmission, Bmw expects it to be a particularly popular choice on this car – in the Uk, as many as

Like the 1M, numbers will be limited

IN DEPTH

b m w m 2

3 W h e e l s a n d t y r e sA Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyre has been specially made for the M2. On the front axle 245/35 ZR19 tyres wrap 9 x 19in forged aluminium wheels, while the rear 10 x 19-inchers roll on 265/35 ZR19 rubber. As ever, M division has eschewed runflats to improve ride and handling.

1 e n g i n eLike the 1M Coupe before it, the M2 uses a 3-litre straight-six and turbocharging to attain its peak outputs. Its twin-scroll turbocharger is integrated into the exhaust manifold, while the pistons and crankshaft main bearing shells are from the M3/M4. There’s also an oil cooler and a modified lubrication system.

2 s u s p e n s i o nBMW has raided the M3 and M4 parts bin for the M2’s underpinnings. Control arms, wheel carriers, axle subframes and the front axle’s stiffening plate are all aluminium, saving 5kg compared with the equivalent steel setup. The rear control arms and wheel carriers are also aluminium, while the rear axle subframe is rigidly mounted.

4 B r a k e sCast-iron ‘M compound’ brakes are fitted as standard, just as they are on the M2’s larger brethren. Stopping power at the front is handled by 380mm discs grasped by metallic blue four-piston calipers. At the back there’s a set of 370mm discs and two-piston calipers.

5 B o d y k i tThe M2’s distinctive visage is defined by a pair of trapezoidal blade elements to either side of the lower centre grille and front arches 55mm wider than standard. At the rear they’re 80mm wider, flanking a diffuser element and subtle lip spoiler. BMW claims a 35 per cent reduction in lift.

1

3

2

4 5

s p e c i f i c at i o n

Stra i g h t-s i x , 2979 c c , tu r b o365 b h p @ 6500 r p m500N m @ 1450 - 47 50 r p m4. 5s e c (c l a i m e d , m a n u a l)2 50 k m / h (l i m i te d)1495 k g24 8 b h p/to n£ 4 4,070A p r i l 2016

E n g i n ePowe rTo r q u e0 - 62 m p hTo p s p e e dWe i g h tPowe r-to - we i g h tB a s i c p r i c eO n s a l e

RIVALAu di RS 3 Sp or tback

T h e M2 ha s n o d i re c t r i va ls – s ave p e r ha ps B MW ’s ow n M4 – b u t i n te r m s of p r i c i n g , p e r fo r m a n ce a n d b ad ge a p p e a l , i t ’s c l os e s t to Au d i ’s RS 3 a n d th e M e rce d e s-AM G CL A45 . T h e Au d i e d ge s AM G’s s a l o o n fo r d r i ve r a p p e a l , b u t m ay h a v e a t o u g h e r f i g h t o n i t s h a n d s w i t h t h e M 2 .

In - l i n e 5 - c y l , 24 80 c c , tu r b o362b h p @ 5500 - 6800 r p m4 6 4N m @ 1625 -5500 r p m4. 3 s e c (c l a i m e d)250 k m / h (l i m i te d)1520 k g242b h p/to n£ 39,9 95

E n g i n ePowe rTo r q u e0 - 62 m p hTo p s p e e dWe i g h tPowe r to we i g h tB a s i c p r i c e

the M2’s 0-100km/h time with a dCt ’box is the same as a manual M4’s

4.3 sec

the M2 is 44bhp more

powerful than the M235i

BMW expects half of M2s sold to be

manual

Peak torque, including

a 35nm overboost

365bhp

50per cent

500Nm

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F I R S T L O O K b y a n t o n y i n G r a m p h o t o g r a p h y b y J a m e s l i P m a n

half of m2 buyers could opt for three-pedals. it’s a sophisticated ’box too, with automatic throttle blipping on downshifts and a function to lower engine revs on upshifts.

the dual-clutch option is also feature-packed, with comfort, sport and sport+ modes, launch control, stability clutch control (which can disengage the clutch for extra stability in cornering to prevent oversteer) and a gleefully descriptive ‘smokey Burnout’ function. the dual-clutch car is the faster of the pair, with a manual m4-matching 4.3sec 0-100km/h time. the manual m2 breaches 100km/h two tenths later.

if all seems well with the world after reading the M2’s specifications, there is one caveat: like the 1m coupe, numbers will be limited. there’s no dedicated production line for the car, which means Bmw m must take 2-series coupe bodyshells from the Leipzig line and fit the M components in a separate workshop. ‘we’ll be lucky if we can get 400 to 500 cars,’ Bmw Uk told evo.

those buyers will get a bargain, though – m2 pricing begins at £44,070, undercutting the m4 by £13,000. if it drives better than its bigger brother, the case for buying an m4 may just have become very slim. THINgS cAN ONLy gET bETTER?

evo ha sn’t wa r m e d to th e c u r re nt B MW M 3 a n d M4 m o d e ls l i ke we th o u g ht we m i g ht . T h e M 3 na r row l y avo i d e d a la s t- p lace f i n ish at evo C a r of th e Ye a r 2014, w h i l e th e M4 wo n o u r co u p e te s t i n evo U K 206 la rge l y b e c au s e of we a k co m p eti t i o n .

W h i l e b r u ta l l y f a s t o n f lat , d r y ro ad s a n d d ev i l ish l y ha n d s o m e, th e s e c a r s a re sp i k y o n a ny th i n g l e s s tha n a p e r fe c t su r f ace – s o m eth i n g that ’s exace r b ate d by tu r b o c ha rg i n g

– a n d s tr u g g l e to co nvey u s ef u l i nfo r m ati o n to yo u r f i n ge r t i ps .

T hat B MW ha s a p p a re ntl y ta ke n fe e d b ac k o n b o a rd fo r th e M2 is e n co u ra g i n g . W i th a l owe r wei g ht a n d l e s s p owe r, i t ’s su re to b e a f r i e n d l i e r c a r, w h i l e p ro m isi n g to d e l i ve r s o m e of th e o u tr i g ht th r i l ls m is si n g f ro m th e l e s s fo c u s e d M2 35i . At l i t t l e ove r £4 4,000, i t ’s go o d va l u e to o. We c a n’t wa i t to d r i ve i t .Anto ny I n g ra m

the range of the M2’s peak torque

band

reduction in lift from the M2’s aero

kit

3300rpm 35%

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F errari has reVealed details of a more hardcore version of its f12 supercar.

called the f12tdf, the new model pays homage to ferrari’s success in the tour de france endurance road races of the 1950s and ’60s, in which the f12’s spiritual predecessor, the 1956 250 Gt Berlinetta, took four straight victories.

there are no such racing plans for the f12tdf, but a 769bhp version of the 6262cc V12 makes it the most powerful front-engined ferrari road car to date. it’s an increase of 39bhp over the f12 Berlinetta, with a rise in torque from 690nm at 6000rpm to 704nm at 6750rpm. the engine will rev to an 8900rpm red line.

Power gains have been realised through race-derived mechanical tappets and f1-inspired variable-geometry intake trumpets. ferrari

has worked on the f1 dct gearbox too, shortening its ratios by six per cent and reducing shift times by 30 per cent on upshifts and 40 per cent on downshifts.

lightweight wheels and the widespread use of carbonfibre, from aggressive aerodynamic elements to new single-piece door panels, have helped cut 110kg from the weight of the f12, meaning the f12tdf weighs just 1520kg. the combined effect of the power increase, gearbox recalibration and weight savings slices two-tenths from the Berlinetta’s 3.1sec 0-100km/h time. top speed is quoted as being in excess of 340km/h.

ferrari describes the f12tdf as ‘an extreme road car that is equally at home on the track’. to that end, the car has significantly different aerodynamic properties to the f12 Berlinetta. there’s a new front splitter

along with dive planes and louvres. the rear spoiler is 60mm longer and 30mm higher, the rear screen is more vertical and the rear diffuser has been redesigned. at 200km/h there is now 230kg of downforce (up from 123kg).

the f12tdf is broader, too, with wider tracks and 275-section front tyres (up from 255). the wider front rubber had the potential to make the handling snappy at the limit of grip, so ferrari has introduced ‘Virtual short wheelbase’ – active rear-wheel steering to improve agility at low speeds and aid stability at higher velocities. single-piece brake calipers lifted from the laferrari bring proceedings to a halt.

deliveries are scheduled to start next year, with just 799 examples planned. Ferrari has yet to confirm a price for the car, which made its debut at mugello on november 8.

Faster Ferrari

F12 ready

for the track

Race-inspired F 12tdf get s 39bhp

power hike and a c arbonf ibre diet

Two s e co n d s f a s te r tha n a 4 88 GTB a ro u n d F i o ra n o

T h e F 12 td f ’s 0 -100 k m / h t i m e – a n i m p rove m e nt of 0. 2 s e c

T h e i n c re a s e i n d ow nfo rce ove r a ‘ reg u la r ’ F 12

769bhp -110kg 2.9sec 1m 21s87%A b u n da nt c a r b o nf i b re ha s h e l p e d w i th wei g ht s av i n g

T hat ’s 39 b h p m o re tha n th e b a l l is t i c F 12 B e r l i n et ta

f i r s t l o o kb y a n t o n y i n G r a m

BMW 2 Series Coupe, Convertible:

R a d a R R o u n d - u pb y a h m e d m a G d y y o U s s e f

Bmw has a growing tendency towards expanding its line-up models' body styles, and the all-new Bmw 2 series is no exception. the compact car is available locally in coupe and convertible variants -- replacing the 1 series coupe and convertible trims -- along with a compact mPV body style called active tourer.

designed especially for those who appreciate the outstanding, yet athletic performance, without sacrificing luxury and high-standard safety measures, the premium two-door model in coupe and convertible variants has achieved an overwhelming success to the munich-based automaker, despite the cut-throat competition from models like Volkswagen scirocco, Peugeot rcZ and audi a3 convertible.

the sportier, yet compact member of Bmw line-up has locally debuted in egypt through the cairo international auto show

(automech) earlier this year. though Bmw 2 series coupe and convertible are globally available in advantage, sport line, luxury line and m sport level trims, only the 2 series coupe with m sport package and 2 series convertible with sport line model variant are offered in egypt.

with a new badge, and a longer and lower body than the 1 series coupe and convertible iterations they replaced, the new comers look more mature and unique. Both 2 series coupe and convertible are locally sporting a newly-developed twinPower turbo, 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine. the engine delivers 136 hp and 220 newton meters of torque.

the 2 series coupe with m sport package has a base price of eGP 378,000, while the 2 series convertible with sport line variant has a base price of eGP 428,000 in egypt.

Power is channelled to the rear

wheels through eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. it provides the car with an array of automatic shift programs, in addition to fully manual gear changes via bushing the shift lever or using the wheel-mounted paddles.

the new coupe and convertible variants can dash from Zero to 100 km/h in a zippy 8.9 and 9.6

seconds, with a top speed of 210 and 205 km/h, respectively. furthermore, the new comers manage to cut fuel consumption to 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres for the coupe variant and to 5.8 litres per 100 kilometres for the convertible one, thanks to innovative technologies like auto start-stop function. L

Blend the Athletic Design with Efficient Drivetrain, High-Tech Traits


R a d a R R o u n d - u pb y a h m e d m a G d y y o U s s e f

alone it combines spaciousness, luxury, modernism, cutting-edge technology, and overall, it is around 200kg lighter than renault’s large crossover while achieving a low 0.27 cd.

aside from the highlighted exterior and interior refinements which allow talisman to stand up against the eighth-generation

Volkswagen Passat, the d-segment salon leverages from two petrol engines; the energy tce 150 and energy tce 200 units, in addition to three diesel engines range from 110 to 160 hp.

the renault talisman starts at 28,149 eUr in france and we may expect its entry to the egyptian market very soon. L

To gear up for its official reveal at the 2015 frankfurt motor show, Paris-based renault has recently dropped the lid off its long-awaited successor of the eight-year-old laguna sedan, namely, talisman.

as its name implies, talisman “conjures up notions of both protection and power. at the

same time, talisman is an easy word to pronounce and understand the world over,” according to renault!

although talisman still rides on espace platform called cmf-cd, it adopts sleeker and more elegant lines designed especially to cater to european customers, let

Renault Talisman: Laguna Successor Gets Sleek French Lines, Cutting-Edge Technologies


oliver SieghartM I N I ’s H e a d o f i n t e r i o r d e s i g n t a l k s u s

t h r o u g h t h e i r m o s t p r a c t i c a l M I N I e v e r a n d

h o w d i f f e r e n t i t i s t h a n i t s p r e d e c e s s o r

t hErE IS no doUBt that the new MInI Clubman is the most

premium of any Mini model to date, can you tell us more about this approach?it was clear for us when we started to design this new generation that we are entering a new level or a new class for mini, making this our main aim. Premium material quality, style and character were very important to us. with the clubman, we managed to enter the compact class segment, and from the design language and the character, we tried to achieve a special sophisticated style with lots of charisma. of course, there is still a little bit of playfulness that mini is popular with, but it’s somehow in a different way. we took some heritage elements and we brought them in the new clubman with a modern twist.

What are the actual differences between the new MINI Clubman’s cabin and the other MInI models in the range? the car is bigger, but it’s still the smallest in its class, which is very important. Basically, we wanted to deliver a mini to people who need more space, a more useable and more functional mini that themselves and their families can use and grow with. in terms of styling, the clubman is also more mature; it’s a five-seater with rear seats that are really spacious. the car is also wider, which gives one more interior space.

How hard was it to blend luxuriousness with the funkiness of MINI’s interiors?i think it wasn’t that difficult, it was rather an interesting challenge. it was very important for the design team to define the character of the car even before starting the design process. mini’s core product had a

story and the new clubman had another story so we used both to create a bespoke character for the new clubman. the type of customers for the clubman expect a lot, so we gave them higher level of quality and luxury, while ensuring that everything doesn’t feel mainstream. individualism is immediately felt through little details in the car.

Does the added luxury make the MINI Clubman a slightly different companion compared to other models in the range? although it is still a proper mini, it’s a good thing that it’s different. the exterior for example is undeniably mini, but at the same time the taillights are now horizontal which gives the car a wider stance from the rear view compared to its predecessor.

Being the families’ main choice now, aren’t you worried that the Clubman might affect a car like the Countryman in the future?customers choose the cars they desire based on the car’s character together with its functions. i think every car in our range has the right to exist;

for instance, if you look at the little John cooper works mini, you instantly feel that it’s so different and has its own style compared to the Paceman, the countryman and the clubman. at the end of the day, individuals are the ones to choose what they prefer best. hopefully, they will choose within a car within our brand. L

it was very important for the design team to define the character of the car even before starting the design process

I n T E R V I E Wb y a h m e d e l w a k i l

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After decAdes of naturally aspirated V8s belting out their

flamboyant arias, the adoption of turbochargers for ferrari’s ‘junior’ supercars had enthusiasts suspended in nervous apprehension. surely it just wouldn’t be the same with the smothering influence and apathy-inducing low-down torque of forced induction?

Yet while achieving the reduced fuel consumption and emissions that necessitated the turbos in the first place, ferrari has taken its V8 off on an entirely new tangent. the

488’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo engine doesn’t so much as boast reduced turbo lag; it’s virtually non-existent. It would be the most memorable facet of the new engine, if not for the 661bhp haymaker that threatens the onset of vertigo.

this new spider version presents another watershed moment. talk to anyone who has ever ordered a drop-top V8 ferrari and the ticket to a front-row audience with the engine is usually paramount in their purchasing decision. the 3.9 may well have some serious engineering alchemy, but even ferrari admits

With the 488 GtB, ferrari let character take a back seat to performance and efficiency.

does the spider restore order?

Test location: forli, emilia-romagna, Italy GPS: 44.20503, 11.89544Photography: Nathan Morgan

Ferrari 488 Spider

EvEry nEw Evo car that mattErs, rEviEwEd and ratEd

Athat it offers a different sonic experience, and one that, if you were a fan of the ‘good old days’, can’t match the howl of a motor closing in on 9000rpm.

As on the 458 spider before, the 488 spider uses a retractable hard-roof solution for open-air motoring. With a one-touch operation, after 14 seconds it has stored itself directly behind the cabin’s rear bulkhead, partially covering the V8’s cylinder heads. that means the sloping glass window of the GtB coupe is absent, replaced by a solid, flat deck area with a flying buttress to either

side. this has also required some careful aero finessing to maintain the effectiveness of the blown rear spoiler.

Underneath the handsome aluminium skin, the multi-metal tub has been strengthened at both the front and rear to compensate for the loss of a fixed roof. that ferrari has succeeded in maintaining the same values for torsional rigidity bodes well for the spider’s dynamics, although this additional bracing and the workings of the roof add 50kg over the weight of the GtB, taking the total to 1525kg.

the mechanicals of the spider are otherwise the same. the twin-scroll turbocharging system features titanium-alloy compressor wheels amongst all manner of developments to reduce lag; ferrari’s own figures suggest the turbocharged V8’s response to an application of throttle is just 0.1 seconds behind that of the old 4.5-litre naturally aspirated V8. the new engine is hooked up to the usual seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, where up- and downshifts are far quicker than the human hand-and-foot combo could ever aspire to,

and the fully automatic mode is never befuddled.

Peak power is reached at 6500rpm and then held constant for the final 1500rpm. Naturally, the torque curve is considerably plumper than the 458’s, but it also has a surprising linearity thanks to the Variable torque Management system. on paper, this sounds like the sort of electronic meddling that has purists snorting with derision, but we already know that it offers not just the ability to surf the colossal surge of torque (only fully unleashed in seventh gear) but

ferrari 488 sPIder // CiTroen ds 4 tHP 210

ferrari’s V8 has gone turbocharged, but we asked the evo road test team to name their favourite naturally aspirated engine.

the team

Nick TroTTEditor‘Impossible ask! top three, in no particular order: BMW (McLaren) f1 V12, ferrari f50 V12, Lexus LfA V10’

HeNry caTcHpoleFeatures editor‘It seems crushingly obvious to pic the McLaren f1’s V12 yet almost irresponsible to choose anything else’

STuarT GallaGHerManaging editor‘carrera Gt 5.7-litre V10. Magical to listen to, mind-blowing to drive’

DaN proSSerRoad test editor‘I’ve never driven a Lexus LfA, but every time I hear one fully lit I want to explode’

JeTHro BoviNGDoNContributing editor‘Predictable, but one stands above them all. It’s a 6.1-litre V12 and you’ll find it in the back of a McLaren f1’

ricHarD MeaDeNContributing editor‘V10 in the back of schumi’s 1998 ferrari. 17,000rpm, 267bhp per litre. Indescribable, unforgettable’

DaviD viviaNContributing editor‘Bit V8-light here so I nominate the 7.4-litre chevy in the nose of James tiller’s Allard J2. In a word: brutal’

aDaM ToWlerContributing road tester‘NsX-r Mk2 V6. that noise, that throttle response… thought it would burst before the change-up point’


an astonishingly good ride quality, particularly in Bumpy road mode. configured in sport, the spider is an entirely civilised and comfortable way to commute or cruise. switch the manettino to race, however, and the spider bristles with expectant energy. the steering ratio is very fast and the effort required slight, but the spider’s responses soon become second nature.

the acceleration is utterly savage, almost regardless of the gear selected; fifth can often feel like fourth, even third. If the spider does drive differently to the GtB then it would take a back-to-back drive to

really notice it. over wildly cambered and blatantly broken asphalt there is the slightest suggestion of a tremor from the rear-view mirror, but it’s something seen more than felt.

the question, then, becomes one of a more cerebral nature, and part of a larger debate: does the 488 make going unfeasibly, anti-socially fast all too easy, with too little given back in return at sane speeds?

A partial antidote is to switch the traction and stability systems off. the 488 has so much more torque compared to the 458 that it can leave two black lines out of a corner almost on demand. It takes time to build the necessary confidence, but it progressively dawns that this is as friendly as 661bhp ever can be: every slide under power, or twitch over a crest, is performed with a balletic grace and a fluidity that’s sheer magic to experience. these are the moments you’ll cherish forever in the spider: when you and it are working as one. In those moments, with blue sky above and fresh air swirling around the cabin, the spider makes an enthralling case for itself. LAdam towler (@adamtowler)

also the encouragement to utilise all the revs.

Italy has blessed us with a warm, sunny, autumnal day, and the roof is lowered and kept there, bar for a short stretch of autostrada to confirm that, yes, the spider is as refined as the GtB with it in place. the electric rear window can be raised to act as a wind break when the roof is down or lowered to create a turbulence-free hearing trumpet for the V8 when the roof is up.

How does that engine sound? Well, you will definitely recognise the hard, hollow timbre from ferraris past, but with additional revs it’s

as though the higher frequencies have been turned down on a graphic equaliser. In the GtB, the turbos announce their presence with every brush of the throttle, hissing like an antagonised snake, but the prominence of the burping valve-flap exhaust in the spider drowns most of this out.

Both the springs and the magnetic dampers are exactly the same for the spider as they are on the GtB, as the algorithms of the software are so complex that the system can adjust accordingly to compensate for the spider’s additional weight. It’s clever stuff, and it gives the car

‘If it behaves differently to the GtB, you’d need a back-to-back drive to really notice it’

+ Brilliant folding-roof integration; immense performance; surprising useability - High-rev theatrics of the 458 are no more Infotainment still a bit fiddly to use evo rating ;;;;;Specificationengine V8, 3902cc, twin-turbo

Co2 260g/km

Power 661bhp @ 6500-8000rpm

Torque 760Nm @ 3000rpm

0-100km/h3.0sec (claimed)

Top speed 327km/h+ (claimed)

Weight1525kg (440bhp/ton)

Basic price £204,400

Left: 488 uses a host of stability-control software, and the level of intervention is based on what the car thinks of your driving, the road type and the conditions


Contrary to what your eyes are telling you, this is not an updated

Citroën DS4. It may look like said model has been given a mid-life nip and tuck, but I am here to tell you that it is emphatically not a facelifted Citroën.

what it is, is a facelifted DS 4. the differences are new front and rear bumpers, new LED headlights and a new badge. oh, and the fact that Citroën has now separated its premium DS brand from its mainstream range of French hatches to allow the former to stand on its own four wheels in the premium hatchback sector. So unless you start pulling pipes off the engine, you’re unlikely to find a double-chevron Citroën badge anywhere.

this revamped DS 4 is the second standalone product since the DS brand was released from the Citroën mothership last year and the revised DS 5 first appeared. But, unlike the DS 5, the DS 4 isn’t a unique car, rather it’s a Citroën C4 that’s been through the DS comfort, technology and design mill.

to these eyes, the results aren’t that convincing. the new front-end design language has zero identity. If I was being cruel, I’d argue that a Korean hatchback of a generation ago had more design flair; Kia’s design language today is certainly stronger and more distinctive than that of DS. the rear three-quarter view is best, where the DS 4’s low-slung roofline separates it from the norm. what it’s not, though, is a classic piece of French design.

Being a premium brand, DS has slaughtered a whole field of vache for the interior, with every surface wrapped in the stuff, and in the Prestige trim level of our test car it has done a very good job of lifting the ambience of lower level DS 4s, where contrasting plastic finishes jar.

It’s now at a level you’d have to pay a hefty premium for in a German rival. But while the finish of our test car is hard to fault, it’s hard to escape the feeling that it’s still a mask for what is a rather mediocre and uninspiring cabin underneath.

the top-level DS 4 driven here is powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol four producing 208bhp at 6000rpm and 284nm of torque from 1750rpm. that’s previous-generation Mini JCw or Mk6 Golf Gti levels of output in a car that weighs 1313kg, 5kg less than the Vw, though the 7.8sec 0-100km/h time is some way off the sprinting abilities of both those cars.

the fact that a six-speed manual gearbox is the only transmission on offer sounds promising, but a quick look at the chassis details (MacPherson struts at the front, torsion beam at the rear) and the hope of a French fancy under a frumpy dress quickly fade.

the expectation quickly fades on the road, too. there’s a strong initial surge from the turbo four from low revs, but then at 3500rpm the power delivery feels like it’s plateaued before

picking up for a final 1000rpm dash to the red line. at no point does it feel hot hatch quick, not even luke-warm hatch quick. It’s all a bit tepid. Keep it up in the higher reaches of the rev-range, have some confidence that the front wheels will do what you ask of them (there’s no feel to search for) and the DS 4 will cover ground at a quickish pace, but there’s no real challenge or reward.

one of the biggest complaints about the original (Citroën) DS4 was its poor ride, something that has been answered with this latest model. It’s still not liquid-smooth, but on French back-roads it absorbs undulations with reasonable aplomb, although strangely the apparently smooth tarmac of the autoroute finds it fidgeting around like a toddler with a full bladder.

on interior quality the DS 4 delivers the premium effect DS is striving for, but for everything else it’s all a bit forgettable, and for a car maker with eight world rally titles to its name, that’s unforgivable. LStuart Gallagher (@stuartg917)

the French hatch has a new look and detail

changes under the skin. Just don’t call it a Citroën

DS 4 Prestige thP 210

+ Quality of interior trim - Engine lacks punch; uninspiring drive evo rating ;;;22SpecificationEngine In-line 4-cyl, 1598cc, turbo

CO2 138g/km

Power 208bhp @ 6000rpm

Torque 284nm @ 1750-4000rpm

0-100km/h7.8sec (claimed)

Top speed 235km/h (claimed)

Weight 1313kg (161bhp/ton)

Basic price £22,995

C

Test location: angers, France GPS: 47.2025, -0.3315


N i s s a N G T - R

B e t t e r l a t e

t h a n n e V e r

after a lengthy eight years since its launch, we finally got the chance to sit behind the wheel of the mighty Godzilla for a proper thrashing, and

boy it was worth the wait.

by a h m e d e l wa k i l

024 www.evo.co.uk www.evo.co.uk 025


hE vEnUE WAS thE Gt ACAdEMy IntErnAtIonAL

rACE CAMP. i was one of the lucky few, who were invited to spend a week

at silverstone with nissan Gt academy’s finalists. The idea was to go and witness

closely how the Gt academy program runs and how tough and challenging it is

to win it.i have to say i was excited; however, my excitement didn’t

even half-match the exuberance i had when i was informed that i will be driving nissan’s mighty Gtr round silverstone.this may sound awkward for some of you, but despite the fact that i work as a full time motoring journalist since 2008, i’ve never driven or even had the chance of taking a passenger ride in the mighty Godzilla! that’s mainly because, as you probably all know, we don’t have these types of vehicles in our humble market.

to put things into perspective, the Gtr nissan was

launched in 2007, which in simple maths means that it’s an eight-year-old car. does that make it quite a superannuated car compared to today’s metal? not really, i have to say; the GT-R still packs a lot of sci-fi tech that can shame a lot of the recently launched supercars.

the best thing about the Gt-r though is that it’s one of the most successful remakes that ever happened in the history of motoring. the amount of passion people had for the king of all Jdms in the past was mesmerising to say the least. from the iconic skyline Gt-r r32, to the Playstation generation Gt-r r34; everyone dreamed of having one in their driveways. it’s inevitable when you’re talking about a car that easily embarrassed a lot of exotic machinery at a fraction of the price.

when it was launched, the new generation Gt-r had the same concept as its predecessors; however, several things have changed in order for it to cope with the intense competition. chief among these changes was the price. started at around $75,000 back in 2007; the Gt-r was relatively affordable

compared to a Porsche 911 turbo for example. year after year though, Nissan began to fine tune and update the GT-R in order to keep up with the ever-growing competition and with all these updates came several price hikes.

these days, a well kitted 2016 Gt-r will set you back almost $120,000 which makes it quite a pricey car, when you consider the badge on its bonnet. the Godzilla is not for the blue-collar motoring freaks anymore. nevertheless, when you put into consideration the amount of tech, research, development and, more importantly, performance the Gt-r packs, everything immediately start to make sense.

standing at stowe complex waiting for my turn to jump behind the wheel, i went back in mind and started to recap all the articles, video reviews and verdicts i watched and read about the nissan Gt-r during the past eight years. i commemorated how much i wanted to drive that car and how much i imagined myself having one on my driveway. i don’t want to sound romantic or cheesy in any way but the whole experience felt so emotional.

my car arrived; i grabbed the aston martin-styled door handle and instantly jumped into the driver seat. on the passenger seat i had a tremendously special instructor for the day which was nissan’s nismo lmP1 racing driver harry tincknell; 2014 24 hours of le mans lmP2 class winner.

harry was there to make sure that i drive properly on the track. on the whole, everything was a bit overwhelming for me; silverstone circuit, a le mans winner on the passenger seat and a car that produces 550hp and 632nm of torque from a 3.8 liter twin turbo V6 engine and can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 315km/h. a car that i've been longing to drive for eight lengthy years!

Prior to letting us loose on the circuit, we've been told in the drivers’ briefing that we will be driving the GT-R only for 12 laps and then we have to go into the pits, i was gutted by that to be honest because i knew that these 12 laps will feel like 12 flying seconds, so I had to make sure that I am prepared to soak up every little detail, and to soak it up very well, in order to stack away this experience in my mind. in hindsight,

t

N i s s a N G T - R



almost 240km/h with me at the wheel, the car's speed effortlessly vanished. That gave me huge confidence on that brake paddle but also made the le mans winner execute some slightly hesitated hand gestures trying to express his desire of telling me to take care and slow down.

Half way through my first lap, I started to tackle Stowe's chicanes and bends and straightaway i realized what every motoring journalist in the world was on about. the way the Gt-r attacks corners simply elucidates why it won eVo car of the year award back in 2008.

you just point its nose where you want it to go and it just goes, it never takes no for an answer. the dampers are flawlessly tuned to be as leveled and as composed as possible. from what i remember, i can't recall at any point that the Gt-r behaved weirdly on any corner. it was one of the most stable vehicles if not the most stable vehicle i've ever driven in my life.

Bear in mind that with fluids, a full tank of fuel and two passengers, aka myself and harry tincknell, you are looking at a car the weighs almost two tons! that's enormously ponderous in a world full of lightweight ferrari 488GtBs, mclaren 650ss and Porsche 911 Gt3s. nevertheless, using technologies that I am plainly not qualified to talk you through, Nissan's boffins managed to create a car that handles like it's on rails.

yes, you do feel the weight, at some parts of the tracks where you have to change directions quickly from one corner to the other, it felt slenderly cumbersome, but all in all, it is as athletic as the best supercars out there.

even the noise was quiet enjoyable; i have to say that while i was waiting at the pit lane, i was slightly disappointed with the noise coming out of the Gt-r's tailpipes. it sounded way too conservative for a car of this caliber, however from the

i knew it wasn’t going to be easy to do so and therefore i decided to use a GoPro instead.

Before i take you deeper into my thrilling story with the Gt-r, i just wanted to point out that if you’re the sort of person who’s prognosticating a geeky technical review; look away immediately. this will be my story of a very short showdown between me and Japan’s most desirable supercar. after all, you’ve probably read enough technical reviews about the Gt-r already since its launch, so today is all about the actual experience.

The first thing you notice but tend to ignore is the big screen on the center console displaying all the nerdy readouts that you won't feel like bothering yourself with, especially if you're experiencing your first few miles in the GT-R. It would've been a lot more tempting to go through these readouts if i was keeping this car for let's say no less than six months. so no time for them today sadly.

from the inside, the car feels big; however, interior space is not the most generous, when you consider how wide and long the car is. furthermore, having completed several laps earlier in a 370Z nismo and a Juke nismo rs, i've also noticed a lot of commonly shared switches and parts in the interior of the Gt-r, which didn’t feel very nice or special considering

that this is a car that should be representing Nissan's flagship $120,000 supercar.

However, all these first impression details were wiped away instantaneously, as soon as i slightly started feathering the throttle to drive out of the pit lane. forget everything you once read or heard about how muted, uninvolving or lackluster the Gt-r is compared to its predecessors or today's supercars; this thing feels mechanical.

you hear and feel everything moving underneath you, it produces mechanical noises that make it feel very peculiar indeed. My first few meters in the GT-R felt brilliant already. driving out of the pit lane, i short shifted a few gears to reach the first hairpin in which is the slowest corner on Stowe circuit. I simply wanted to save that first moment of acceleration to the main straight which actually followed the first hairpin.

Going out of the slow corner, I floored it to the carpet and boy was i'm in for a shocker! the power, the torque, the traction and the quick gears made me speechless all the way till I've reached the first and the heaviest breaking point on the track.

although at this point, harry was quiet uncomfortable knowing that he is approaching a breaking point that is as dangerous as it is vital on the stowe circuit while doing

“if yoU’re the sort of Person who’s

ProGnosticatinG a Geeky technical reView; look away

immediately”


N i s s a N G T - R


inside, the sound suited the car very well, with mechanical noises that added to the experience and added a very gratifying sense of occasion.

lap after lap, i was getting more mesmerized about the Godzilla and, thankfully, harry was getting more comfortable in his seat. in fact he even started giving me compliments about my driving and about how good my racing line was, i was beaming and glad.

The more I drove the car, the more I gained more confident in its chassis, its brakes and its overall behavior. the combination of the 550hp engine and the dual clutch gearbox was astonishing; the car literally throws you in the back of your seat every time it exists a corner. and the gearshifts are so immediate and quick that you have to react with the flappy paddles very quickly in order to keep up.

Before i know it, harry quietly said to me "we should go into the pits by the end of this lap…" i didn't realize how on earth have i managed to lap the stowe circuit 12 times in what felt like a minute or two! it was one hell of an overwhelming experience. i was actually very sad it ended so quickly because to get acquainted with a car like the Gt-r, with its unbelievably broad abilities, you'll need no less than an ownership experience to soak it all up.

compared to some of today's offerings, the Gt-r may started to feel its age slightly, but it's still super quick off the line, round corners and on back straights. it will go down in the history books as one of the greatest cars of all time, and i was glad that i had the chance to experience it before they put it out of production and bring its hybridized upcoming generation. i was just hoping that i could remember more of this very quick, short and thrilling experience. thank god i used that GoPro. L

NissaN GT-R

Engine V6, 3799cc, twin-turboCO2 275g/kmPower 550bhp @ 6400rpmTorque 631Nm @ 3200-5800rpmTransmission six-speed dual-clutch, all wheel drive Front suspension Double wishbones, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll barRear suspension Multi links, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll barBrakes Carbon-ceramic discs, 390mm front, 380mm rear, aBs, EBDWheels 8 x 20in front, 10 x 20in rearTyres 255/40 ZRF20 front, 285/35 ZRF20Weight (dry) 1740kgPower-to-weight (dry) 316bhp/ton0-100km/h 2.9sec (claimed)Top speed 315km/h (claimed)Basic price £85,490

evo rating: ;;;;;

www.evo.co.uk 031


of the Uk after sir chris Joy crashed the other one in 2014 at Goodwood. nissan simply didn’t want to take the risk of losing the other car they had on silverstone circuit by a modest egyptian motoring journalist, which is something i entirely understand.

harry tincknell drove the Gt-r nismo off the pits and confidently started doing his thing with ease while i sat next to him wide-eyed and speechless of how quick that thing goes around the track. the G-forces you get inside that car are very close to what you’d experience in a racecar. i was holding on for dear life as harry kept slaughtering the nismo from one corner to the next.

acceleration is marginally better of course with the 600hp delivered 400rpm higher in the rev range compared to the normal Gt-r. the sound was also noticeably more exotic. there is no doubt that the Gt-r nismo is a proper track weapon. it’s almost capable of relocating

your internal organs under hard acceleration and on fast and slow corners.

in fact, it’s was so extreme that after several laps i started to feel nauseous and couldn’t wait to get back to stowe’s pit building to have a refreshing fizzy drink while trying to gather my thoughts about how brilliant this car feels on the track and how capable and talented someone like harry is piloting it like a boss. it really is a proper track car for proper experienced drivers; for me, however, i would rather stick to the normal Gt-r and my fizzy drink. L

for some demented people in this world, a standard nissan Gt-r doesn’t cut

the mustard. these types of creatures are usually questing for perfection and this is where the Gt-r nismo comes to the equation.

the idea behind this track-bred machine is to deliver a more focused driving experience by being lighter, more powerful and more suited for circuit driving. it also serves well in the exclusivity department, that’s why nissan are producing only around 200 units each year and ask for a hefty 150,000 dollars for each one these quiet exotic machines.

the modifications on the nismo aren’t vast if you compared them with the standard Gt-r; 600hp vs 550hp, 652nm of torque vs 632nm, and only 20 kilograms lighter at 1720kg. so what exactly is so special about the nismo Gt-r?

the fast & furious’ish body kit isn’t there for show; it actually adds a whopping 100kg of downforce at 300km/h without altering its brilliant 0.26 drag coefficient. so theoretically, this car could break the 200mph barrier unlike its normal sister.

it accelerates to 100km/h in 2.7 seconds which is mind-boggling. the most significant advantage of the nismo Gt-r though is its new suspension and better weight distribution which allow the car to lap any circuit on planet earth faster than almost 95% of all the supercars and hypercars out there.

the main reason why i couldn’t drive the car myself was because it’s the only Gt-r nismo left in that part

Just when we thought the nissan Gt-r couldn’t get any better, we underwent some blisteringly quick laps from the passenger seat in

the ultra-rare and uber-extreme Gt-r nismo with a le mans winner behind the wheel and discovered that there is even more lunacy in

store from nissan

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F

‘the G-forces yoU Get inside that car are Very close to what yoU’d eXPerience in a racecar’

Turned to Eleven

032 www.evo.co.uk

by a h m e d e l wa k i l

NissaN GT-R Nismo

Engine V6, 3799cc, twin-turboCO2 275g/kmPower 600bhp @ 6400rpmTorque 652Nm @ 3200rpmTransmission six-speed dual-clutch, all wheel drive Front suspension Double wishbones, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll barRear suspension Multi links, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll barBrakes Carbon-ceramic discs, 390mm front, 380mm rear, aBs, EBDWheels 8 x 20in front, 10 x 20in rearTyres 255/40 ZRF20 front, 285/35 ZRF20Weight (dry) 1720kg0-100km/h 2.7sec (claimed)Top speed 315km/h (claimed)Basic price €199,900

evo rating: ;;;;;

Top left: LMP1 racing driver Harry Tincknell drove the Nismo GT-R effortlessly. Top right: Nismo GT-R wings and spoilers give it a very unique presence.

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M i N i J C W

The naughtiest of them all

the latest John cooper works is the most powerful production mini to date; however, we believe that it hassome pretty big shoes to fill; salzburgring race circuit is where we judged if it lived up to its marvelous predecessor.

b y a h m e d e l wa k i l

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i C o N : N i s M o 4 0 0 R

A CoUPLE oF yEArS AGo, at these very same backdrops, i drove the outgoing mini cooper Jcw. i have to say that it was one of those cars that i fell for. it was the epitome of a brilliant hot hatch, small, quirky, rapid and, above all, extremely characterful and engaging. with the new model, it is somehow obvious that mini is targeting new clientele. the car is bigger in all dimensions compared to the old model; it's also slightly heavier, roomier inside and can be ordered with a six-speed automatic gearbox. has the new mini cooper Jcw gone soft?in apprehension, we hope not. for starters, mini gave their Jcw the 2-liter engine from the Bmw parts bin; developing 231hp and 320nm of torque, which makes it the most powerful production mini ever built. the new engine is more powerful and gutsier than the old 1.6-liter unit.you instantly feel the added displacement as soon as you start working out the gears

and exploiting the car's performance. the twisty mountain roads of salzburg are probably one of the best places to take a car like the cooper Jcw and have fun with it.in terms of handling, the new Jcw is still one hell of a fun car to drive quickly, its chassis has enough natural balance and the car feels light and nimble, if a little devoid of feedback compared to the outgoing model. with so much power and torque over the front axle, mini fitted the car with an electronic differential, unfortunately being electronic and not mechanical, it can't always cope with the generous power the Jcw produce.the first test car i drove didn’t have adaptive dampers but it had a stick shift and three pedals. the manual gearbox featured an automatic rev-matching system on downshifts similar to the one fitted in on the nissan 370Z. concerning the suspension, at some parts

of the austrian back roads the car felt very hard and very jiggly to the extent that i was about to stop and check if the tire pressure was ok! mercifully, it turned out that the tarmac was to blame. still the Jcw has quiet a firm ride but that didn’t bother me at all because i believe that this is one of the main aspects of a hardcore mini, let alone the most hardcore of them all.Performance is one of the most enjoyable experiences you get while driving the new Jcw cooper, the car is fast in any gear, and it sounds musical to your ears, especially on the overrun, where it keeps popping its exhaust like an angry lad with a rif le. it sprints from 0 to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds and can reach a top speed of 250km/h; these figures put it at the sharp end of the hot hatch hierarchy.all these conclusions were about to get serious and even better judged, as i approached the gates of the unforgiving

salzburgring race track. trouble is, the weather was treacherous. the rain was pouring heavily on the surface of the track that we actually thought mini might actually cancel the track activity for the day, due to the seriously dangerous conditions.fortunately, the guys at mini made a brave decision of getting on with the day and letting us loose on the circuit in six-speed auto equipped Jcws.as i strapped myself and drove out of the pit lane, i knew that i wouldn’t be able to judge the car fairly in that weather. so i concentrated on keeping the car on the track instead. on the back straight, where we reached 200km/h, the water spray coming out of the other cars in front of me made the visibility extremely difficult. "tense moments ahead" i thought to myself. the most obvious let down of the cooper Jcw is its tires' lack of outright grip; its

‘Performance is one of the most enjoyable experiences you get while driving the new JCW Cooper’a


Right: wrestling a front-wheel drive car with 231hp in heavy

rain was epic fun. Below: the new MiNi Cooper JCW feels more serious than its

predecessor at times

MiNi jcw

Engine in-line 4-cyl, 1998cc, turboPower 231hp @ 5200 - 6000rpmTorque 320Nm @ 1250 - 4800rpmTransmission six-speed automatic gearbox, front-wheel drivesuspension McPherson fronts, Multi-link rears, Brakes Ventilated discs front and rear, aBsWheels 18in front and rearWeight 1200kgPower-to-weight 193bhp/ton0-100km/h 6.1sec (claimed)Top speed 246km/h (claimed)

evo rating: ;;;;2

038 www.evo.co.uk

fine to use those set of tires on the regular mini cooper, but definitely not on the most powerful mini ever. their limit of road holding is quiet deplorable to be honest, going into serious understeer while entering a chicane is so easy if you're not paying attention. as a result, i made sure to concentrate on nursing the car through the corners in a very smooth manner.the biggest surprise for me was the automatic gearbox; contrary to most of the motoring journalists' opinions, i preferred it to the manual. it was quicker and suited the car's personality even more. i especially loved the epic pops coming out of the exhaust every time i changed gear.as the day was about finish and with no signs of the weather improving, i drove into the pits and had several minutes of silence inside the car, trying to regain my composure after what can only be described as some vivid, spirited and nerve-racking driving on a soaked wet track that's very fast and has very limited runoff areas.i came to a conclusion that the mini cooper Jcw is a very nice car, it still has all the ingredients of a proper mini, it

looks cool, has one of the best interiors in its segment, it drives very well and it goes like stink. the only problem is that it somehow lost some of the polishing its predecessor used to have and that's mainly because of its average tires and its bigger and heavier platform.it's also quiet expensive compared to its rivals. it's entirely possible to surpass the hyperhatch territory in terms of pricing after ticking a few options, but maybe its unmatched charisma and its well-finished interior make up for that.the thing that baffles me most though is that i am pretty sure mini were somehow conservative when they were building this car. its powertrain has a lot more hidden potential that could be extracted at any point in its lifespan, and thankfully its chassis is capable enough to handle a lot more go as well. i am expecting that the Jcw won't be the most extreme mini in the near future. i guess there is a lot more to come from the iconic British brand. L

M i N i J C W

‘Its powertrain has a lot more hidden potential that could be extracted at any point in its lifespan’


we spoke to the man who induced us all to like how the current Bmw range looks

KaRImHabIb

HEad of bmW dEsIgn


b y a h m e d e l wa k i l


the Lebanese-Canadian Karim Habib is the man responsible for almost all Bmw's creations for the past four years. however,

when we closely spoke to him, we immediately felt the monumental passion he has for his sketches, creations, the brand itself and even being a designer. more importantly, his charisma and soul are clearly felt in Bmw's current strong lineup.

How do you prepare for massive events like Frankfurt Motor Show?as designers, our job has already been carried out a long time ago, since the cars have been finished almost a couple of years back, so it's not that demanding. What we have done though for the first time this year is that although the stand has been designed by a separate group, we helped designing some sculptures that deal with materials and we helped designing the layout of the exclusive area. however, in preparation for the show, it hasn’t been that different. Can you give us an explanation about the actual process of designing a new model?what we do at Bmw is that we have what we call, a pitch process. it is basically an internal competition, so for whatever next model comes up, we usually start about four years or even a bit earlier, where we try to fix the proportions. So between four or five years we work with the engineers and try and determine the width, the height, how long the overhang is in the front, the wheelbase, the length of the overhang in the rear and so on. that’s actually very important work because it determines so much about the car. after that, we have a competition that we basically open up to every in-house or external designer in our studios, which are located in munich, california and shanghai. once the competition starts, we do a selection, where four designers are selected. each designer does a full virtual model and then we cut the four models into two and we make a selection with the board. this is followed by choosing one model out of the two and this becomes the final selection. Then, we further work for another 8 to 12 months finishing it up. With all the safety restrictions and regulations these days, designing a car is probably a lot harder than the old days, does that makes it more challenging for you?

let me put it this way; i recently met at Villa d'este a designer that used to work for Pininfarina in the sixties and seventies called Paolo martini. he designs some pretty amazing cars and we started talking about what it is to design today and what it had been to design back in the old days, and he said: "if i had the tools you guys have today i can do some amazing stuff" and then i said to him: "yes but if you had the

legislations that we have today, it wouldn’t be exactly the same thing". there is truth to both. yes, maybe in the past you could have been a bit more flamboyant and the process wasn’t as streamlined, but today we have tools that are amazing. we can work virtually and we have clay; clay wasn’t available back then, that’s why they used wood models instead. also, designing an interior is more complex but it's also pretty rewarding. so to sum it up, i am really happy to be a designer today. Talk us through the design of the new 7-seriesalthough we have the new X1, the new 7-series is pretty much our highlight in frankfurt. today this is our flagship and I really think it’s the best 7-series we've ever built for a few reasons. For the first time, we are talking about luxury the way Bmw can do it. we are talking about modern luxury, so the car has a level of quality and materials that you’ve never seen before in a Bmw. the car also has an amount of innovations that we've never done before like touch screen and gesture control for example. so it's not just old luxury, it's all about blending innovation and luxury. It’s the first time we are also so clear that we want to make a car that is very comfortable when you're sitting and relaxing in the rear. that’s why we have the massages in the rear seats and so on because that’s what you need in that class, however, it’s a Bmw and it's still has to be able when you put in sport+ to drive like a proper Bmw so that was very important. in terms of design, proportions were so important to us and I think that when you look at the car, you'll find that it has the typical Bmw dynamic strength elegance in the way it flows, but it also has a lot more status, so that was very important for us. it’s a bit more upright; the kidneys are a bit higher. furthermore, obsession with details was high on our list; we've gone through every little corner of this car, every millimeter. we've looked at everything and tried to make the best we can do. for example, the side graphics or the hofmeister; it’s the first time we do the chrome in one piece, from the B pillar to the c-pillar and coming back, no shut line. you might not notice it from a distance but when you get closer and when you are a customer and you've lived with this car for a few months or a few years, hopefully it will always remain a certain kind of reward to look at it and touch these very details. another important thing is the main feature line that goes from the headlamps to the tail lamps. if you look at it from far, you look at one line pretty straight, but when you get closer, you discover that it has two lines instead, it's like that because we felt it was very modern and almost like a ribbon. the door handles are exactly the same width as these two lines, and it feels like they are almost been meld out of that line. so, the 7-series has status, luxury, of course dynamics

and muscularity. i am actually very proud of it.The 1-series received a thorough facelift which is quiet rare for BMW, usually your facelifts are minor, what was the reason behind that?we felt that the car needed a strong impulse. it was important for us because we wanted to change the character from something a bit more irreverent to something sportier and we felt it was important because obviously the market is changing around us as well and we have to remain very sporty and that’s what we did. yes, it was a big facelift but it was one of the projects i loved doing the most, even though it’s only a facelift because when you can change a lot with very little, that’s really great. In all the designs you've made for BMW, which one do you consider as your finest hour?the next one… L

K a R i M H a B i B

the biggest test of the best new performance cars of 2015 demands an epic test route. and we’ve found it. But which of our 11 contenders

will leave with the coveted title of evo car of the year? Place your bets…

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Wick

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Gairloch

Applecross

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E d I t o r

NICK TROTTnot just brought along for his credit card, nick has a keen eye for detail. Can find a flaw many miss in a car

C o n t r I B U t I n G E d I t o r

RIChaRd meadeNhis achievements tower over most here. no longer powered by biscuits, but he’s lost none of his fearsome pace


jeThRO bOvINgdONthe fastest driver ever. seriously. especially when he’s got an upset tummy and is searching for a loo

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daN pROsseRDan’s second eCoty and his first as road test editor. so we really should stop teasing him about his hairdryer

M A n A G I n G E d I t o r

sTuaRT gallagheRthrives on problems. Gt3 rs has a puncture, you say? in the wilds of scotland? stu will sort it…

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adamTOwleRevo’s stato and resident 205 Gti owner. On his first eCoty, which means he’s willing to clean cars


COlIN gOOdwINcol’s been there, done that, drunk our beer. so it’s remarkable he accepted another invitation to ecoty

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maRINO fRaNChITTIwon sebring and the alms. neither match the achievement of fitting in the back seat of an evora 400

judgescombining over a century of road-testing and racing expertise, meet the test team

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ChevROleT camaro z/28

pORsChe 911 gt3 rs

Engine V8, 7008cc Power 505bhp @ 6100rpm Torque 651Nm @ 4800rpm Weight 1732kg (296bhp/ton) Tyres Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R, 305/30 ZR19 front and rear 0-100km/h 4.2sec (claimed) Top speed 282km/h (claimed) Basic price $72,305

Surprised? Don’t be. A first drive in evo UK revealed this track-biased muscle car to be firmly suspended but with excellent body control and savage turn-in. Carbon-ceramic brakes? Lightweight glass? Super-sticky (and super-wide) semi-slick rubber? It has them all. America’s answer to a certain hardcore 911 could make a big splash.

‘there isn’t a single area that dominates, the whole car works as

one’ E v o U k I S S U E 2 1 3

‘in terms of raw mechanical grip it ’s bloody gobsmacking’

E v o U k I S S U E 2 0 5

Engine Flat-six, 3996cc Power 493bhp @ 8250rpm Torque 460Nm @ 6250rpm Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, 265/35 ZR20 front, 325/30 ZR21 rear Weight 1420kg (353bhp/ton) 0-100km/h 3.3sec (claimed) Top speed 310km/h (claimed) Basic price £131,296

The first RS without a manual gearbox is also the first of its line to feature such technology as four-wheel steering and torque vectoring. There’s also extensive carbonfibre, far greater downforce and, yes, a naturally aspirated flat-six. We know GT3 RSs have a habit of winning eCoty, but is this one good enough to follow suit in this company?

Arguably the best current Lamborghini. It takes time to confidently approach the SV’s limits of grip, traction and acceleration, but there’s a level of feel and adjustability in its chassis absent from its Superveloce forebears. Consider also the fact that it will lap the Nürburgring within a few seconds of a Porsche 918 Spyder…

Engine V12, 6498cc Power 740bhp @ 8400rpm Torque 690Nm @ 5500rpm Tyres Pirelli P Zero, 255/30 ZR20 front, 355/25 ZR21 rear Weight (dry) 1525kg (493bhp/ton) 0-100km/h 2.8sec (claimed) Top speed 350km/h+ (claimed) Basic price £321,723

lambORghINI aventador LP750-4 sv

CARswhat a collection – even by evo car of the year standards. here purely on merit and from all corners of the performance car world, this is how they made the grade

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the sV remains a thrilling proposition’ E v o U K I S S U E 2 1 4

thIS IS not A tESt thAt ShoULd BE ovErCoMPLICAtEd. thErE’S enough of that in the planning (think herding cats, or rather herding hungry wildcats on speed). ecoty is a pure, honest and simple test – the best new drivers’ cars on the best roads. it’s never needed anything else because it has the thrill of driving at its core.

nothing else matters on ecoty. extraneous details, objective reasoning, data analysis, price, carbon dioxide, fuel economy, even power output – they don’t matter. the judges are asked to eradicate everything except that which conspires to deliver the thrill of driving. it’s how a Peugeot 208 Gti can be thrown into a test with a mclaren 675lt, and it’s the unifying force that allows seat to take on ferrari.

every car in ecoty is a contender – with very rare exceptions, we only pick those cars that have already proven a winner in some way or another, either with a five-star road-test verdict or a group-test victory – and the result is impossible to predict. well, that is unless there’s a 911 in the field, as history relates…

this year was spectacular. we left scotland tired and sunburnt (yes, really), but mostly we left optimistic. why? Because the performance car is in a very good place. on the evidence of this year, the thrill of driving remains as important to car manufacturers as it is to us.

thank you as ever for reading. we’ve boosted ecoty to nearly 40 pages this year, for reasons that i hope will soon become obvious.

what is evo car of the year, and why does it remain so important after 15 years? editor nick trott explains

e v o c a r o f t h e y e a r 2 0 1 5

LOCATIONthe best roads in the north highlands of scotland will prove a real challenge for this year’s contenders

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Test location: the Highlands, Scotland

GPS: 57.477047, -4.228747

IN 2005, The NoRTh hIGhLAND Initiative was established to bring together farmers, local businesses and the tourism industry to address the challenges facing rural communities. The initiative, supported by the Duke of Rothesay, Prince Charles, has created (and manages) a marketable regional identity, of which the North Coast 500 tourist route is a clear example.

The NC500 covers over 500 miles of the best roads in the north highlands. We started in Inverness, went west to Applecross then up the west coast, and returned via the sensational roads of the north coast. The roads have everything, from tight turns to open straights, from smooth surfaces to damper-punishing tarmac. There are few, if any, better roads on which to test and enjoy performance cars.

‘if you’re looking for a narrow band of supreme ability, the Pug nails it ’ E v o U k I S S U E 2 1 1

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peugeOT 208 gtI by Peugeot sPort

Not a name you will have seen in evo before, but you know the car: essentially this is the 208 GTi 30th Anniversary continued in non-limited-edition form. This 208 is light, skittish and needs to be driven precisely to get the best out of it, but with a tightly wound limited-slip differential and a punchy mid-range, it’s a real contender.

Engine In-line 4-cyl, 1598cc, turbo Power 205bhp @ 5800rpm Torque 300Nm @ 1750rpm Weight 1185kg (176bhp/ton) Tyres Michelin Pilot Super Sport, 205/40 ZR18 front and rear 0-100km/h 6.5sec (claimed) Top speed 230km/h (claimed) Basic price £21,995

lOTus evora 400

Consider that the Lotus evora S is a five-star evo car. Now consider that the new evora 400 boasts more power, better grip, greater practicality and the same wonderful chassis only with a little more edge. The design might be getting on a bit but the mechanical package is alive and something truly special. Victory over the Cayman GT4 would be huge.

Engine V6, 3456cc, supercharged Power 400bhp @ 7000rpm Torque 409Nm @ 3500-6500rpm Weight 1395kg (291bhp/ton) Tyres Michelin Pilot Super Sport, 235/35 R19 front, 285/30 R20 rear 0-100km/h 4.2sec (claimed) Top speed 300km/h (claimed) Basic price £72,000

meRCedes-amg gt s

The Mercedes is here because it won a group test in which it squared up to – wait for it – the Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430, BMW i8, Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911 Turbo. Its twin-turbo engine is hugely powerful and has character, its dual-clutch gearbox is on the money, and it changes direction on a whim. It’s a remarkable, fully rounded car.

Engine V8, 3982cc, twin-turbo Power 503bhp @ 6250rpm Torque 649Nm @ 1750-4750rpm Weight 1570kg (326bhp/ton) Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, 265/35 ZR19 front, 295/30 ZR20 rear 0-100km/h 3.8sec (claimed) Top speed 310km/h (claimed) Basic price £110,495

‘objectively, this is a better car than the Porsche 911 Gt3 rs’


‘there are moments of pure genius – the steering and chassis are simply

fabulous’ E v o U k I S S U E 2 1 1

‘it deliberately puts driver enjoyment above the pursuit of raw performance’


‘like all great hot hatches, it draws you into chasing it ever

harder and harder down a road’ E v o U k I S S U E 2 1 2

‘the amG feels special at a standstill and is even more enjoyable on a charge’


‘the seat’s performance puts it in a different league

to other hatchbacks’ E v o U k I S S U E 2 1 5

‘the evora remains a car that pours feedback the driver’s

way’ E v o U k I S S U E 2 1 3

pORsChe cayman gt4

For so very long a concept Stuttgart daren’t realise lest it show up more expensive (and profitable) models, a Cayman by Porsche Motorsport is finally here. With a front axle taken directly from the GT3, aerodynamic bodywork and one of the best manual transmissions on sale, this is the car we all demanded, and this will be by far its toughest test.

Engine Flat-six, 3800cc Power 380bhp @ 7400rpm Torque 420Nm @ 4750-6000rpm Weight 1340kg (288bhp/ton) Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, 245/35 ZR20 front, 295/30 ZR20 rear 0-100km/h 4.4sec (claimed) Top speed 295km/h (claimed) Basic price £64,451

mclaReN 675Lt

McLaren would never admit it, but the 675LT is closer in terms of pace to the hybrid P1 hypercar than the firm would have liked. In fact it’s probably the quickest point-to-point car at this year’s eCoty. But speed alone counts for very little when the field is chock full of cars that ooze feeling and excitement. So, has modern McLaren got soul?

Engine V8, 3799cc, twin-turbo Power 666bhp @ 7100rpm Torque 699Nm @ 5500-6500rpm Weight 1328kg (510bhp/ton) Tyres Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R, 235/35 ZR19 front, 305/35 ZR20 rear 0-100km/h 2.9sec (claimed) Top speed 330km/h (claimed) Basic price £259,500

feRRaRI 488 gtb

Not quite as characterful as the 458 it replaces? Maybe, but the 488 GTB will run rings around its predecessor. Ferrari has done a spectacular job of turbocharging its new V8 supercar and a flood of torque is now only a moment away at all times. Revised chassis electronics also allow the 488 to be driven closer to the limit, and the grip is simply staggering.

Engine V8, 3902cc, twin-turbo Power 661bhp @ 6500-8000rpm Torque 760Nm @ 3000rpm Weight 1475kg (455bhp/ton) Tyres Michelin Pilot Super Sport, 245/35 ZR20 front, 305/30 ZR20 rear 0-100km/h 3.0sec (claimed) Top speed 330km/h+ (claimed) Basic price £181,849

seaT Leon cuPra uLtImate sub8

SeAT’s answer to the very hottest Renaultsport Mégane models is, quite simply, the fastest front-wheel-drive production car we’ve ever driven round a track. It shines on the road too. A clever locking diff and modest weight mean the engine’s generous power can make itself known, while the brakes seem to operate in a parallel universe.

Engine In-line 4-cyl, 1984cc, turbo Power 276bhp @ 6000rpm Torque 350Nm @ 1750-5300rpm Weight 1300kg (216bhp/ton) Tyres Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, 235/35 R19 front and rear 0-100km/h 5.8sec (claimed) Top speed 250km/h (limited) Basic price £31,410


hONda cIvIc tyPe r

What the latest Civic Type R loses in character (goodbye VTeC as we knew it), it makes up for in sheer performance (hello turbocharging). The honda retains its superb driving position and gains fat tyres and aerodynamic flicks that lend a Touring Car vibe to proceedings. It’s an outside bet for the overall win, but it certainly won’t be upstaged.

Engine In-line 4-cyl, 1996cc, turbo Power 306bhp @ 6500rpm Torque 400Nm @ 2500-4500rpm Weight 1378kg (226bhp/ton) Tyres Continental SportContact 6, 235/35 R19 front and rear 0-100km/h 5.7sec (claimed) Top speed 269km/h (claimed) Basic price £29,995

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thE FIrSt dAWn ChorUS oF ECoty is a special moment. always is. it signals the beginning of the most important test of the year, and that moment when we can stop planning and cajoling and get on with driving – just driving.

the sound of the cars starting up, one after the other, gives you a flavour of what’s to come. For me, nothing can beat the first morning on ecoty 2013, when an sls Black series was cutting heads with a ferrari f12, with a Porsche Gt3 dialling up the decibels to get involved. this year when the cars fire into life, outside a hotel in Inverness, the hairs rise, the smiles form and the anticipation builds. if the noise of these 74 cylinders and nine turbos is anything to go by, this ecoty could top them all.

the crisp morning air is viciously sliced by the sound of our contenders waking up. the seat, Peugeot and honda thrap then settle into a quiet idle. the busy engine note of the cayman adds a metallic rasp to the mix, the amG emits an indifferent growl, and the aventador sV reminds everyone of its provenance with a shriek. think of the cat in red dwarf, through a marshall stack, and you’ve got it. to a man, we giggle mischievously.

hotel guests emerge from their rooms with cameraphones, surprisingly cheerful given they’ve been woken early this monday morning. shots are taken, kit loaded, and then we crawl onwards to our first location at loch ness. ‘this is ecoty,’ dickie meaden will say later in the day. ‘looking ahead, and behind in your mirrors, seeing the cars in convoy, the shapes, sizes and colours.’

the convoy is short-lived, our location just down the road. a couple of roundabouts and dual carriageway stretches conspire to create a rather melancholy start to the north

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coast 500, but then we ease off the B862 and head downwards to the loch and the magnificent Aldourie Castle estate (p66).

Photographers aston Parrott and dean smith have arrived early, ever the pros (or insomniacs, i’ll never know), but the early setup here means we’ll have more time for our journey west. we’d love to stay longer (like a couple of weeks) at aldourie, but the nc500 and ecoty wait for no man. however, despite the brief stop, conversation is rich and thoughts flow.

Jethro Bovingdon, as always, can’t contain his inner schoolkid. he’s visibly excited, walking between the cars, laughing at the sheer variety in this sensational £1.2million group. friends of evo Jim cameron and John Barker are already on their third ‘oversteer hands’ mime of the day, while managing editor stuart Gallagher wonders aloud what the hell is going to win.

last year, truth be told, the 458 speciale had won after five minutes. This year, even

Above: the foot of the Applecross Pass. One for the test’s smaller,

nimbler cars. Left: the Honda clings on in the corners, but it’s about

to get dropped…

‘the SEAt has extraordinary stopping power but oversharp servoing, while the Lotus seems to have dampers filled with anti-gravity’

with a Gt3 rs in the mix, we just don’t know. i step from the mclaren and jokingly check the badge. it doesn’t say ‘rs’, but it might as well – the 675lt feels perfectly honed, lightweight, focused and wildly exciting. and the others? the aventador sV is typically seductive, the ferrari 488 extraordinarily capable and the seat feels a giant killer. wouldn’t that be something?

road test editor dan Prosser watches on, contemplative and quiet, no doubt creating neat files in his mind for each car. or wondering if the hotels we’ve booked en route have hairdryers.

me? i’m just pleased we’ve pulled it off. this could be the greatest ecoty ever, particularly if the forecast is accurate. high pressure is building to the west, bringing warm and dry weather. tom campbell, ceo of the north highland initiative, has been extraordinarily helpful with the planning for ecoty 2015, but i had no idea he could arrange the weather…

and ferrari it feels less like driving and more like powerboating. with dean snapping the supers, i head a convoy of hot hatches, plus the lotus and the cayman, to the famous applecross Pass.

how to describe the applecross? an almost impossible job, but i’ll give it a go. a road that clings to a peninsula, carving up, down, around and over giant blocks of granite, occasionally opening up to views that only exist in one other place – on God’s instagram. it’s a curious road too, as there doesn’t seem to be any reason for its existence other than to take you to places where you can witness/gawp/choke on the full majesty of the north-west coast of scotland.

here the cars are worked hard until sunset. it’s too early to dive into much dynamic analysis (dan has his road tester’s notebook at the ready in the next chapter), but we learn that the seat has extraordinary stopping power but oversharp servoing, the Lotus seems to have dampers filled with

anti-gravity, and the cayman Gt4 is just sublime. i also make a bet that the honda’s ‘+r’ button will get little use over the next four days, such is the bump-hop-oh-i’m-in-a-loch elevation in stiffness it triggers.

we’re also beginning to enjoy some of those unforgettable david and Goliath moments that ecoty always seems to create. for instance, no matter what car (or jet plane, time machine or spaceship) you’re steering, the civic type r and the seat are unshakeable. in fact, that’s a good name for the pair of them: ‘the Unshakeables’.

the 208 Gti by Peugeot sport hasn’t given us that moment yet, but the way it lifts a hind leg into the applecross’s hairpins is every bit as enjoyable as the cayman Gt4 is when transitioning into oversteer on the exits.

i jump from cayman to evora and back again, thinking how two of the best chassis development teams on the planet have executed two very different driving experiences. here on applecross, the lotus is bossing the roads, and never feels compromised or confused by the surfaces. But the car i choose to take back to the hotel as the sun lays a blanket of golden light over the peninsula? the Gt4.

dan takes the civic and heads north-west to Gairloch while i go north-east. it’d be fun dicing with dan, but i need some alone time in the Gt4. it turns out to be a good call, as an hour later i’m telling anyone who will listen how i’ve just had one of the best drives of my life. Just me, the cayman, extraordinary roads, and a manual gearshift.

with the shot taken, we’re off on our first leg – west on the A832 to Achnasheen and an abandoned petrol station where we have the first of many ‘can you believe this landscape?’ conversations. colin Goodwin takes it further: ‘we should buy a house up here, or a shed, or a lodge – it doesn’t really matter. Just somewhere where we can keep a car, then fly up a few times a year to remind ourselves of the thrill of driving.’ at regular stops throughout the week we’ll all continue the conversation – and try to think of the perfect car to keep at the ‘nc500 evo lodge’. a lotus elise or an original elan will soon be identified as being ideal, until four-time indycar champ dario franchitti turns up in his 3.7-litre 911 hot-rod…

But i’m getting ahead of myself. it’s still early on day one and we have a lot of distance to cover. from the abandoned fuel station, dean takes some of the supercars to loch a’chroisg. here the road feels almost on the same level as the loch, and in the mclaren



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I’M GEttInG rEStLESS. thE SUn hAS almost set, though, and once the burnished orange smudge above the horizon has faded, the cameras will be packed away and we can get on with the serious business of testing cars. our hotel is in Gairloch, 55 miles from here, and by hugging the coastline around the applecross Peninsula rather than pointing ourselves inland, we can add a few miles to the drive and watch the last of the light fade over the sea to the west.

i choose the honda civic type r. its styling isn’t to all tastes, but the car does have a distinct and unmistakable character, which is a trait it shares with some of the most desirable cars on this test. the road around the peninsula is single-width for the most part, but in this dusky half hour it’s easy to see when a car is heading our way by its headlights. i switch the 306bhp honda into its +r mode, drive for 15 seconds and switch back. that mode simply takes all pliancy out of the damping and on this pitted tarmac the car skips and bounces. left in its default setting, though, the civic’s damping is sublime. this road is littered with unseen bumps and mean little compressions, but the type r soaks it all up with real class. it’s like slamming shut the door of a soft-close cupboard; you expect it to crash loudly, but it simply absorbs the impact without any fuss.

The Civic cleverly combines its fluid damping with taut body control, meaning it’s composed in corners and over crests rather than being wallowy or floaty. That depth of dynamic ability is a real hallmark of a great performance car, and we’ll see it mirrored in several of the much more expensive cars here. it’s only when the dampers have to contend with repetitive vertical inputs that the honda begins to lose its composure, which shows up the limitations of its torsion-beam rear axle. its steering, meanwhile, is direct and sharp with a predictable rate of response.

there’s just enough adjustability in the chassis to allow you to tweak your line or respond to a tightening radius, so i soon get into a focused, flowing rhythm in the Type R. the gearshift is sweet and straight-line performance is strong, but I do find myself wishing for sharper throttle response every time i drive away from a tight bend.

It’s the first really enlightening drive of the test. halfway back to Gairloch i pull over,

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long corners, it has nothing left in reserve, so when you do hit a bump the punch-through is pronounced and the car gets deflected. The damping feels brittle, like hard toffee when you want soft fudge.

when i turn off the main highway and onto a tighter road, the 208 begins to come into its own. the short wheelbase and stiff chassis give a bouncy and unsettled ride, but the front axle has truly tremendous turn-in bite. with so much agility dialled into the chassis balance – almost to the point of instability – it carries huge speed down a road while keeping me on my toes. The 205bhp engine is flat and lifeless, but the limited-slip differential helps the 208 to scamper quickly away from corners.

the rest of the group has arrived at our base

‘With so much agility dialled into the chassis balance, the Peugeot carries huge speed down a road while keeping you on your toes’

flag down the SEAT Leon Cupra Ultimate Sub8 and switch seats. dusk has faded into night and the roads are unlit, but the cupra’s bright headlights pick out the ‘passing place’ signs that dot the road every few hundred metres to trace its path.

Within the first few hundred metres, the leon feels more potent than the civic, pulling with an intensity i’ve never experienced in any other front-driven car. in fact, the cupra 280 (276bhp, really) hauls itself so hard in a straight line that we soon christen it the cupra 820.

the leon has two more aces to play. as the corners come thick and fast along this dark, cresting road, it occurs to me that braking in a sub8 is more-or-less optional. Big, sticky tyres give it such grip that you can pretty much choose

your entry speed and be certain the car will make it through. when you do eventually have to brake, however, you’ll stand the car on its nose so abruptly that the chasing pack will need to be paying attention. for one thing, the sub8’s brake pedal is over-servoed – some things never change at the Vw Group – but this car’s brakes are also hugely over-specified. They use 370mm front discs and four-piston Brembo calipers. with so much performance, unimpeachable grip and massive stopping ability, this leon is spectacularly quick along a road.

it also soaks up the bumps and compressions well, but it doesn’t quite have the same strapped-down body control as the type r and its steering is a little looser and more remote. as we pull into the hotel car park in Gairloch, i

realise that everybody will come away from this week with a tale of being humbled by the leon while driving a much more powerful machine. i wonder how forthcoming those tales will be.

despite the cupra being the faster of the two, i reckon the honda is actually more fun, although not everybody agrees. ‘the civic feels more special than the sub8 initially,’ comments Jethro over dinner, ‘but i love how hard the leon allows you to push. it just keeps getting better as you up your commitment and when you do reach the limit it doesn’t do anything nasty. it’s also fast enough to stay in touch with anything here.’ the civic and leon may be two of the cheapest cars in ecoty, but they’ve set a very high benchmark. i offer this thought to the table, but, curiously, it gets lost among

Left: the common theme? Turbocharging, amazingly. Expected on a McLaren but unthinkable for Ferrari and Honda not long ago. Below: good luck trying this in an Aventador SV…


breathless anecdotes about the camaro…thE nExt MornInG WE rISE EArLy. the Peugeot 208 and i get left behind at the hotel in the madness of the exodus, so with my colleagues pressing on ahead in much faster cars, heading south towards the full-width roads inland of applecross, i’ve no choice but to give the Gti the full ari Vatanen. or the best impression i can muster, anyway.

the roads around this part of the country have been weathered by decades of highland winters. the abrasive, concrete-like surface crumbles in places and is perpetually corrugated like a draining board. the civic and leon dealt with that challenge remarkably well last night, but right now the Gti is falling short. with the chassis loaded up through

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for the day – a charming little cafe at the bottom of the applecross Pass – before i manage to catch up. i steer the discussion towards the Peugeot. ‘it gets off on the wrong foot with me,’ says John Barker, ‘with pedals and a gearshift that are a little too light, but steering that’s unnecessarily hefty. it also feels a bit tall and teetery, but it’s still capable of impressive pace with an ever-faithful front end.’

‘it can feel a bit outclassed in this company, but there’s no doubting its pace. this is easily the best hot hatch from Peugeot in 15 years,’ adds Adam Towler, before fixing a middle-distance stare and muttering something under his breath. all i catch is ‘Zed 28’…

Since I first set eyes upon its wind-sculpted bodywork on sunday evening, the 488 GtB hasn’t been far from my thoughts. i commandeer the ferrari for the afternoon’s photography

duties, carefully forgetting to give it up for the rest of the day. its cabin is immediately familiar from the 458 speciale that so comprehensively triumphed on last year’s test, albeit here with the addition of a stereo and some sound deadening. you sit low, with your legs stretched out in front and the weight of the car behind you.

Apply full throttle from 3000rpm in fifth gear and you just know, beyond all doubt, that this engine breaks new ground for turbocharging. it hauls without hesitation, needing no time whatsoever to awaken its blowers and deliver drive to the rear wheels. i’ve never experienced anything like it. the manner in which the 488 lunges forward in the lower gears, as though it’s trying to leave me behind, is astonishing. there’s a level of straight-line performance here that can only be tapped into in short bursts, but when i do pin the throttle for a few seconds the

661bhp berlinetta delivers a rampant charge for the horizon. the exhaust note is disappointing after generations of spine-tingling howls and wails, but every time i feel that thrust i grow more convinced that i just don’t care.

the steering still has that hyperactivity that marks out all modern ferraris, but it feels more settled than the speciale’s and takes less time to adjust to. feeling the front axle dive for an apex for the first time is almost as eye-widening as the twin-turbo V8’s punch, and although you can feel the mass behind you, it doesn’t ever feel as though it’ll rotate the car. the 488 feels effortlessly agile, but also poised and composed.

‘Bumpy road’ mode, which relaxes the dampers like a deep sigh relieves tension, is a godsend on my run back to Gairloch. it’s a secret weapon you deploy in desperate situations. no matter how thick and fast the bumps come, the

suspension just soaks it all up, as though the car is riding on a pocket of air. it calls to mind the pliant damping of the civic type r and it means you can focus on the heading of the road rather than its shape or surface. remarkably, the car never feels loosely controlled in this mode.

By the time i get back to the hotel i’m wondering if anything will impress me more than the ferrari this week. ‘it’s got one hell of an engine,’ says stuart at the bar. ‘the throttle response defies logic and the Bumpy Road mode is some kind of witchcraft.’

Barker, who moved on from evo to work as a chassis engineer, is just as impressed by the 488. ‘the interplay of ride damping against torque loading and the overlay of both with traction and stability control is quite an achievement,’ he says, just as we were all thinking it.

Jethro, however, has misgivings about the

‘The way the 488 lunges forward in the lower gears, as though it’s trying to leave its driver behind, is astonishing’

Right: hard to imagine a more diverse convoy

of performance cars, but this is eCoty, and

anything can win. Below: 488 GTB outguns the similarly mid-engined

Lotus 400 by 261bhp

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new turbo engine. ‘it’s a complete spaceship of a car,’ he reckons, ‘but as the miles roll past the shock and awe start to wane. you realise you’re short-shifting all the time and using not much more than 4500rpm, that you’re covering ground at astonishing speed but don’t feel particularly hooked into the experience. for me, the rabid excitement of ferraris of old has been eroded. that camaro, though…’

WEdnESdAy MornInG BrEAkS dry and clear, just as the previous two did. as with any evo car of the year test, there are a number of natural pairings here that cry out for special attention, none more so than the lotus evora 400 and Porsche cayman Gt4.

the plan is to head north from Gairloch as a

group, basing ourselves in a car park that looks out over little loch Broom, close to Badcaul. it’s a 25-mile drive from Gairloch across one of the best roads in the area, which begins its irresistible duck and weave within a few hundred metres of the hotel.

Jethro is right ahead of me in the cayman. There are a couple of negative first impressions in the lotus that i’m trying to put to one side, but the seat really is set too high and the engine really is quite industrial. soon enough, though, the evora starts to work its magic. i’ve got my eyes trained on the Gt4’s high-rise spoiler, relying on Jethro’s lines and braking points to squeeze as much pace as i can from the evora and this wonderful road. Jethro starts pushing a little harder and we get so wrapped up in

the drive that we both overshoot the meeting point. we stand on the brakes and sheepishly reverse our way back up the road and into the car park.

with the scent of the evora still sharp in my mind, i jump straight into the Gt4 and retrace my tyre tracks, this time alone. Within five miles i’ve worked out my preference between the two sports cars. within ten miles, i’m wondering if i’ve found my winner.

the cayman’s seating position is absolutely on the money, the control weightings are perfectly matched to one another and the fit and finish of its cabin is streets ahead of the evora’s. despite the Gt4 being a derivative of a more mainstream car, it even takes care of the lotus for sense of occasion.

‘the Camaro’s spring rates are so extreme that a big bump can easily send you

flying out of the soft seats’


Above right: with 13.5 litres of combined displacement, the SV and Z/28 are two very different ways of building an extreme road car. Above left: Leon’s pace is mighty, but the Cayman GT4’s is on another level


the stringiness of the original evora’s manual gearshift has been replaced by a much more mechanical throw, but the cayman’s almost organic shift action is more satisfying still. Similarly, its rev-hungry, 380bhp flat-six, which pulls with real muscle from the mid-range before building to an intense crescendo, makes the evora’s 400bhp supercharged V6 feel workmanlike and utilitarian, somewhat like the 208 Gti’s turbo four-pot. frustratingly, the lotus’s exhaust note from outside the cabin is actually one of the best here.

were it not for the Gt4’s overly long gear ratios, its drivetrain would be beyond objective criticism. the extra 37lb ft of the 3.8 over the cayman s’s 3.4 does disguise the issue to some degree, however, and over this meandering stretch of road you soon realise that you can actually leave it in third and rely on the motor’s mix of low-down torque and top-end reach.

where the lotus excels, of course, is in its blend of ride and handling. It seems to flatten the road surface while staying perfectly keyed into it, rather like the ferrari in its Bumpy road mode but with even more polish. it’s such an impressive thing to experience and you’re never once slowed by the quality of the surface or the shape of the road. the steering, meanwhile, feels a touch light and lifeless at first, lacking the constant patter of an Elise’s unassisted rack, but within a few miles you tune into the messages that come streaming through. soon enough the connection between your fingertips and the front tyres becomes a direct and unfiltered one, so you steer through corners on intuition.

the cayman also rides with a plushness to its damping, but there’s a firmer edge and even tauter body control. i love the way it sits down when loaded up in corners, working both axles

equally hard and feeling perfectly balanced. i imagine its what an expert carve turn in skiing must feel like. the Gt4’s steering is also meatier with a more immediate sense of connection to the front axle. in combination with its more engaging drivetrain, the Gt4 is a car that begs to be driven at full attack, whereas the evora feels at its best when stroked along. for me, that extra edge makes the cayman a car i can fall for, whereas the evora is a car i can only respect.

‘i’m chuffed the evora is here,’ says dickie meaden when i get back to the car park. ‘i’m not a fan of the 400’s looks, but i do enjoy the way it goes down the road. whereas many of these cars get tangled up on the trickiest stretches of tarmac, and some get tied in knots completely, the evora manages to make sense of it all. But the Gt4 really is a scintillating car.’

‘the feel from the cayman’s chassis is very


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transparent,’ adds nick trott, ‘especially when fully loaded in a corner. it doesn’t allow feel to bleed away when you need it most.’

the mercedes-amG Gt s has already seen off the likes of the Porsche 911 turbo and aston martin Vantage n430 in these pages, but this week, in the company of the very best cars of 2015, it faces an entirely different challenge. throughout the history of evo car of the year it has been the more focused, more intense cars that have stood out, and capable though the amG is, it hasn’t the singularity of purpose of a cayman Gt4 or mclaren 675lt. nonetheless, its long bonnet and low-slung seating position set the right tone immediately. the 503bhp twin-turbocharged V8 is shaded only by the ferrari’s for forced-induction throttle response – not just here, but in overall terms – and it really slings the car along at a mighty rate. with the exhaust in its loud mode it sounds fantastic, too, with a baritone rumble under load offset by violent crackles on the overrun.

what impressed us most when we group-tested the Gt s back in issue 210 was its taut control and the immediacy of its chassis, particularly for a car with grand-tourer aspirations. i get so wrapped up in pouring the long nose into corners and feeling the chassis settle and hook up that i almost drive all the way back to Gairloch. despite the enormous torque – 649nm – that those rear tyres are tasked with deploying, the chassis finds tremendous traction, too, so you can pin the

throttle in the lowers gears at corner exit and be sure the car will drive neatly away.

rather like the ferrari and the lotus, you need to take time to tune into the amG’s steering, for it’s light and vague around the straight-ahead, with an artificial rate of response. some can’t forgive the mercedes for that – nick says the vague steering prevents the Gt s from feeling like a sports car to him – but after a short run i feel like i can trust it, particularly when it’s loaded up mid-corner.

over lunch in the unseasonably warm sunshine, dario is talking animatedly about the aventador sV. ‘there’s no excuse for a seat that bad,’ he says, ‘and the gearbox only works right at the limiter in corsa mode. i only found that out thanks to Jethro – i was too scared to venture up there before our chat! short of the limiter it’s neck-snapping in corsa mode or slow and treacly in sport.’

‘the staggering thing about the sV is how easy it is to drive at speed,’ adds colin. ‘i’ve driven all lamborghinis since the miura and, believe me, this one is a pussy cat. it hops about a bit and you still have to remember that it’s a big, heavy car, but it’s not intimidating.’

with some degree of inevitability the conversation soon turns to the camaro, underscored by nervous laughter. i suppose i’m going to have to drive it at some point…

But I decide to leave the Z/28 until the final drive of the day and head for the much less terrifying lamborghini. the seats and gearbox

‘You can make the Aventador Sv sing, but it’s not a car that can be persuaded to dance’


are frustrating, and though there are moments when i can put those issues aside, they do taint my opinion of the car. it’s never anything short of an event, though. the dynamic steering system has now been refined to a point where it feels natural and chatty, and that really helps you to thread this broad-shouldered monster between grass verge and dotted white line.

there’s reasonable pliancy in the chassis and tight body control, which gives you faith in the car despite its size and the violence of the 740bhp V12 under load. Soon enough, you find yourself leaning on the front axle and getting back on the power early to make the most of the total traction, but you never take it by the scruff like you do the cayman Gt4 or even the 488 GtB. you can make the sV sing, but it’s not a car that can be persuaded to dance.

the amG Gt s has been splitting opinion all week, so i drop into its seat for another run

to try and work out what others have noticed that i’ve missed. it’s only when i drive it along a faster road with a rippled surface that I find its limitations. i switch endlessly between the three damper settings, but i can’t persuade the car to stop bouncing vertically. Ultimately, as dickie says, it isn’t focused enough to really stand out in this company: ‘Prior to this week i’d thought of the Gt s as a hardcore sports car, but compared to the 675lt or the Gt3 rs, the amG lacks connection and clarity.’

there’s no putting it off any further. i don’t have any particular misgivings about the chevrolet camaro Z/28 – i’ve never driven one, after all – but the slightly manic stories i’ve heard told of it and the shocked expressions i’ve seen it elicit have made me wary. i sink into its soft seat for the run back to Gairloch, hoping to sneak off so i can settle gradually into the car. then marino franchitti pulls out of the car

Left: Prosser enjoying the AMG’s near-perfect driving position. Like the Ferrari, it’s a car that shows that, done well, turbos are a good thing


park behind me in the amG. i’ll have no such luxury. i don’t want to hold him up, yet if i wave him through i’ll never live the ignominy down.

the Z/28’s cabin plastics may be rather scratchy, but everything you touch as the driver is trimmed in Alcantara. The woofling, 505bhp corvette V8 is also full of character and muscle, while the manual gearbox is hefty and bulky but with a well-oiled and precise action.

i’m using as much of the throttle as i dare, but the chassis is so busy that I find myself lifting off involuntarily. for one thing, the spring rates are so extreme that every bump makes its way through to the car’s body, with the big ones enough to send me flying out of the seat. for another, the enormous, lightly treaded 305-section front tyres sniff out every rut and camber, dragging the car across the road.

the sheer grip is staggering, though, and on the smoother sections it starts to come together. the steering is intuitive and the ceramic brakes are feelsome and immensely strong, so i start

to lean on the car ever harder. that’s when it feels sweetly balanced, agile and biddable, but soon enough the road turns lumpy again, I find myself in third gear when i need fourth, and i’m too scared to take my hand off the wheel.

i’m not sure i’ve ever driven a car that engages you with the process of reading a road quite so much, and for two-thirds of the drive back to Gairloch i’m laughing manically. i spend the other third wanting to get out and walk, though. like the little Peugeot, the vast camaro only really works on a very particular type of road, and i suspect that limited, single-layer ability will prevent it from troubling the top three in the final reckoning.

‘It felt horrible the first time I drove it,’ says nick, clocking my relief when i get back to the hotel, ‘like it needed breaking in. But you have to be in control. you can’t expect it to do what you say unless you’re absolutely on top of it. that makes for a tremendously exciting experience. it’s the best muscle car i’ve ever driven.’

‘there’s nothing i don’t love about the Z/28,’ adds Jim. ‘it has more rear-view presence than anything else i’ve ever experienced. you can see the exact moment that a driver in front notices it – there’s a double-take, normally followed by a sudden lunge out of its way!’

thE LASt dAy oF thE tESt dAWnS foggy and grey. at least the roads are dry. there are two cars that i’m yet to drive, so i grab the mclaren’s key and position myself directly behind the Porsche 911 Gt3 rs. i catch marino’s broad grin in its rear-view mirror. i reckon a franchitti in an rs is likely to be a fast-moving thing, so i steel myself for the quickest run of the week so far.

we’re following the north coast 500 all the way to wick on the east coast today, which means retracing the same road we were using all day yesterday before continuing onwards. that familiarity should give me a chance to stay in touch. The 675LT is intimidating at first – not


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least because it has 666bhp – but i just love the driving environment. the alcantara-wrapped dash looks the part and, in contrast to some of the other judges, I find the seating position to be perfect. i’m sitting right at the front of the car with an expansive view forwards. it feels hugely exciting, even at low speeds.

marino doesn’t maintain those low speeds for long. i watch the rear of the 911 sit down then hear the exhaust note crash against the mclaren’s huge windscreen. i stand on the long-travel throttle pedal in second gear, sense the boost gather for a split second, then feel the most rampantly violent acceleration i can recall experiencing in a road car. i watch the traction-control light flicker through third and fourth, but i don’t feel any intervention. the 675lt’s turbo engine may lack the ferrari’s immediacy south of 4000rpm, but once on boost it launches the car down the road at a phenomenal rate.

chasing is easier than leading and i’ve got more performance, so i can keep marino in sight. with every full-throttle upshift in sport mode the McLaren’s exhaust fires out a crisp, wicked snap, swapping cogs almost without

hesitation. i feel so in tune with the car, the steering giving a constant stream of feedback and its response perfectly matching the grip across the front axle. the optional trackday-spec tyres dig in so hard, too. it’s redolent of the cupra sub8, only multiplied by a factor of ten.

this chassis is so alert and responsive. i watch marino hit a bump and see the rear of the rs rise into the air. i brace myself for the same, yet while the mclaren skips at the rear axle it never tries to get away from me. the underside does skrrrtch into the road surface over the biggest compressions, but again the car doesn’t lose composure. The 675LT feels like an amplified cayman Gt4 in corners; tougher and less pliant but with the same exacting balance, that same sense of the centre of gravity being on the floor.

with greater support at each corner than the 488 GtB, this mclaren is more alive and intense. the ferrari squats down a little in hard cornering and pauses before it returns to level; the mclaren is back with you in an instant. it’s pitched as a more hardcore machine than the ferrari, and it’s more thrilling as a result.

the route opens up onto some wider, better-

‘For all its grip and composure, the Gt3 rS is actually quite playful, and you can swing the pendulous rear axle around in corners’

sighted roads. marino presses on, the mclaren responding to every punch the Porsche throws. eventually we reach a main road, slow the pace down and breathe. we pull into a petrol station, clamber out and burst into laughter. Just as i’m thinking the same, marino shouts out, ‘oh man, that was the best drive of my life!’

It’s a definitive eCoty moment, one that will live with me forever. i feel too giddy to string together a sentence, but marino proceeds to tell me all about the rs. ‘what a car!’ he exclaims. ‘it almost has too much grip for road driving, though. i never even turned the systems off. it’s on such a knife-edge i was worried what might happen beyond the limit.

‘the rear lacks support on the softer damper setting, but it works really well on the stiffer one. it’s a bit harsher over the bumps, but it controls the mass of the rear end much better.’

i continue in the mclaren for a while longer, but stroke it along rather than hang it over the edge. it still feels special. the group convenes at kylesku Bridge, where we prep for a group shot. Jethro, having been holed up in his hotel room with food poisoning this morning, arrives an hour later. i point towards the lt. ‘it’s such an intense car,’ he says, grinning. ‘it out-excites the ferrari and leaves you laughing and whooping with joy. the steering does occasionally kick back viciously, but it’s dripping with detail.’

throughout the week the design and photography teams have been referring to the Gt3 rs as ‘the winner’. certainly, past form suggests it’s one of the favourites. i hop in and within half a mile its 4-litre flat-six reminds me what’s missing from the cayman Gt4’s 3.8. in isolation that feels a raw, exciting engine,

and composure, it’s actually quite playful, so you can swing the pendulous rear around in corners and exit on a half-turn of corrective lock. for something as hard-edged as this to be so malleable is nothing short of extraordinary.

‘it’s a proper, no-messing road-racer,’ says dickie when i return. ‘when you unleash this car it’s an inspirational experience, but one laced with the knowledge you’re straying into territory best steered clear of on public roads.’

it’s a poignant comment, one that provokes a thoughtful lull. we continue on around the north coast 500 towards wick, swapping cars along the way to confirm our impressions. We get to the hotel at 8pm, sit down around a large table and settle in for an argument.

Above: terrific grip can be overcome in the 911, but it’s not for the faint of heart. Right: the route of the North Coast 500 takes in some of the most spectacular scenery we’ve seen on an eCoty

but in comparison with the rs’s 493bhp unit it’s nowhere. the serrated bark from medium engine speeds is almost painful within the cabin and the run to the red line is furious.

the Pdk gearbox is extraordinary, too, and the ceramic brakes give enormous stopping power. the steering is detailed and intuitive, more so even than the Gt4’s. the rs has been deposited further along the ride/handling continuum than the cayman, so it feels tougher over the road, but it also soaks up bumps and compressions with real control.

despite its rearward weight distribution, the rs snaps into an apex with as much urgency as anything else here, as long as you bleed into the corner on the brakes. for all its grip

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For ME It WAS EASy. An EMAIL ArrIvEd containing an easyJet boarding pass and the address of a hotel near inverness airport. all i had to do was get to Gatwick, get on the flight and get a taxi at the other end to the hotel. for road test editor dan Prosser and the evo staffers, the organising of ecoty is rather more complicated. cars have to be booked, and the sort of cars that make the cut for our car of the year extravaganza tend to not be easy to borrow, especially in the same week. the process will have started many months beforehand and will have without doubt taken a few years off Prosser’s life.

i arrive at the hotel late sunday night to see a car park full of machinery not usually seen outside a Premier inn. every one of us here is a veteran of this type of exercise. Barker, meaden and Bovingdon have attended nearly all of the ecotys and i have done my share. (catchpole is off getting married, and if that isn’t the worst wedding planning ever…) each of us has his own approach: some more scientific than others; some prodigious note-takers, others (like your friend) rarely seen with pen in hand.

the temptation is to grab the keys for the most exciting car that you have not yet driven, which for me is the ferrari 488 GtB. But my gameplan is to always start with the most modest machine. Put 661bhp under your foot from the off and the less powerful cars can seem a colossal disappointment afterwards. i’ve always worked my way up. Besides, we are in Scotland for five days so there will be plenty of opportunity to cover decent ground in all 11 cars. five days. this length of time to assess cars is virtually unheard of in these days of the web and instant publishing. But it is the only way to do it, even if it is the old way.

with any test like this, one of the hard parts is setting the context and parameters. do we factor in price and value? Practicality? resale value? with evo it has always been a straightforward task because in times of doubt and uncertainty we can always refer to the line on every cover of the magazine: the thrill of driving. for me it’s that simple. does the car thrill and excite? will i have to shoot grandmother to own one?

We are looking for an overall winner as well as a final order. Over the first couple of days your thoughts are all over the place as you step from one car to another, but after

by c ol i n G o odw i n


BEHINDTHE SCENES

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a time a pattern begins to emerge. although it’s each car for itself, mentally one groups them in types. we have three hot hatches, so it makes sense to judge them against each other to help position them between themselves. Porsche cayman Gt4 and lotus evora 400 is a natural pair; so is mclaren and ferrari. the lamborghini aventador sV is slightly on its own, as is the camaro Z/28. once i’ve worked out the order within the groups, i start to feed each one into the big mix.

on the second day dario and marino franchitti join us, arriving in dario’s hot-rod classic 911. having the supersonic scots on the job is a great safety factor. if you are driving a mclaren 675lt and a triple indy 500 winner is ahead of you in a 488 GtB, you do not even think of trying to keep up. actually, i’m old enough and wise enough to know that keeping up with Barker and meaden is not a good idea either. i’ve been trying to keep up with them for the last 20 years and have the grey hair to show for it.

we talk a lot. in car parks waiting for photographers to get their apertures correct and for the light to be right (it never bloody is), over beers at night, at any opportunity. All road testing and judging cars requires self-confidence and experience. Confidence in your own thoughts and opinions. yes, the opinion and observations of the others are very useful, but when it comes to the crunch you have to make your own decision and back it up with evidence that you’ve collected.

it is a fascinating process; almost as much fun as driving the cars themselves. the real trick, and this goes back to the importance of having plenty of time, is to keep going back to the car, even for five minutes, to keep assessing, often focusing on one small detail and comparing it with its rivals. Being driven in a car as a passenger can be extremely useful. you don’t have the distraction of trying to keep the thing on the road so your brain is free to take in the details. i passenger Barker in the 488 for a very committed return to our hotel. i learn how brave i still am at 53 and many things about the 488’s astonishing electronics.

as the end of the week draws near, opinions are setting like araldite and everybody has an order forming. rarely if ever do you hear someone declaring his hand. it’s better that way, rather than nervously pronouncing your order. Besides, by this stage you have a pretty good idea what everyone thinks. we have, after all, spent a lot of time talking about these cars, about driving and about these amazing highland roads.

i fancy ireland next year: the roads running down the west coast. a complicated one for dan Prosser and his colleagues to organise, but i’m ready and waiting. there have been many different ‘Best car of the year’ contests over the years but few have put the time and effort into doing it the comprehensive and time-consuming ecoty way. i know because i’ve been involved in many of them. five days of constantly driving, discussing and re-appraising the cars is the only way to do the job properly. naturally, for those who take part it’s not exactly a hardship.


thE rESULt oF Evo’S GrAndESt test of the year, the one that asks the biggest question, is to be formulated in a bar on what is officially the world’s shortest street: ebenezer Place, wick. at 2.06 metres, it’s only 6cm longer than the aventador’s rear wing is wide. fittingly, it will be a squeeze for the eight judges to flex their opinions in, but we need a winner and preferably before daybreak so i can get on with the 700-mile drive home.

Just being here is an achievement for our eleven finalists: 2015 has been an almighty year for the performance car and whittling our initial list of contenders down to so few was as tough a task as the voting that lies ahead. so, without further ado…

something has to start the countdown and this year it’s the Peugeot 208 Gti by Peugeot sport. adam towler sums it up best: ‘it doesn’t feel special enough… it’s about depth of ability. the engine is all but inaudible, the gearshift quick but sloppy. it’s well on the way to being a great hot hatch but just falls a bit short.’ the best hot hatch Peugeot has built for a generation is left wanting in this company, then.

The second of our trio of hot hatches finishes tenth. honda’s civic type r was one of the most eagerly anticipated cars of the year, beginning


what we hoped would be a shot in the arm for a Japanese manufacturer that has been gorging on pensioner carriers far too long. ignore the looks (if only you actually could) and the type r has plenty going for it, Jethro concludes: ‘the manual ’box and the coarse engine feel well up for a bit of a hard time. the steering also seems more lucid, a bit more connected to the surface compared with those of the other two hot hatches here. But for me it’s let down by a poor ride and on these roads its chassis is quickly unravelled.’

a few of us knew the mercedes-amG Gt s would produce a shock result, but we didn’t think that shock would be it finishing ninth. editor nick trott gets to the root of the amG’s issues: ‘i tried so hard, with numerous settings, to find the sports car in the AMG, but only found something that was pretending to be one. after so many authentic experiences on ecoty, the Gt s just felt contrived.’

the third of our hot hatches, the seat leon Cupra Sub8, finishes eighth. ‘When you’re really on it, the leon is very special indeed,’ says dickie, ‘but it doesn’t have the detailed feel and measured physicality to leave a lasting impression amongst this rarefied group.’ Considering the metal and carbonfibre that

finishes above it, the Spanish flyer can be proud of its achievements.

if such awards existed, david Price would be evo’s man of the year. why? Because he shipped his camaro Z/28 over from the Us in order for it to partake in this test. and we are grateful that he did. the Z/28 is the car that produced the biggest smiles – every time a driver stepped out of it. nick says it’s the only modern muscle car he’s wanted to own and Goodwin proclaims: ‘it’s as eccentric as hell and a lot of fun and games in a jaw-dropping package.’ But adam believes it was out of its comfort zone in the highlands, while Jethro, like many others, thinks that its spring and damper rates are too stiff for the Uk. ‘could it be my only performance car?’ he asks. ‘not in the Uk. But one of three or four? yes please.’

a point separates the lotus evora 400 and the lamborghini aventador sV. lotus will be disappointed its first new car under Jean-Marc Gales’ stewardship didn’t finish higher, but it shouldn’t be. ‘on the right road, it shows just about every car present how a set of dampers should be tuned. even when the Gt4 got ragged, the evora gave a shimmy and just dealt with it.’ Pretty much everyone agrees with adam’s summary.

the aventador splits opinion. nick places it fourth: ‘it offers real excitement and feedback. like the 675lt – an experience you simply can’t get anywhere else.’ dickie, however, is at the other end of the spectrum: ‘i just couldn’t gel with it. the steering lacks consistency of feel and response; the transmission feels clumsy and cack-handed. the car feels like the Germans trying to do what they think a true lamborghini should be, rather than just doing it instinctively.’

‘the best turbocharged engine and gearbox i’ve ever tried. Just wow,’ is nick’s assessment of ferrari’s 488 GtB. ‘a new ferrari is always something to savour,’ says dickie. ‘the

in association with

458 is the toughest act to follow, especially the speciale, but i found the 488 GtB immediately impressive.’

to a man, the ferrari 488 GtB’s engine has left us in awe, while the chassis makes the performance so accessible. the ferrari’s perhaps surprisingly low ranking isn’t down to a flaw in the car (although Jethro feels that it has been held back in order to leave more for a ‘speciale’ version) but rather the strength of the competition. indeed, the competition the 488 finds itself up against is arguably of the highest order we’ve ever seen.

‘Just being here is an achievement for our eleven finalists: 2015 has been an almighty year for the performance car’

by s t Ua rt G a l l aGh e r

RECKONINGth

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074 www.evo.co.uk


thIS WAS thE WALk-It WInnEr, wasn’t it? did we really need to complete the north coast 500 to declare Porsche’s 911 Gt3 rs winner? yes we did, and for good reason, not least because this year a Porsche 911 hasn’t won ecoty.

‘there are moments when the rs wins. it has to win,’ says Jethro. ‘the rs seemed a dead cert for another 911 ecoty victory,’ adds adam. ‘what’s not to like?’ proffers dickie, thoughtfully sipping his diet water. this is by-and-large the sentiment of all as we discuss the odds-on favourite.

so why do we all, without exception, place it third? Goodwin says: ‘it’s just a bit too competent and makes you drive faster and faster until some of the enjoyment goes with it.’ the editor has a similar view: ‘911s should make you feel connected at all speeds, but the Gt3 rs only seems to do it when you’re really pushing it.’

the consensus is that the Gt3 rs is the most compelling, engaging and enthralling car here. Its flat-six is mesmerising, hooking you into its manic mid and top end as only a normally aspirated engine can.

‘do the other judges really miss the old mezger engine?’ asks road test editor dan

Prosser. ‘i think this 4-litre is incredible – torquey, characterful and with a razor-sharp top end. it’s the most intoxicating engine here by a long way. every time i accelerated hard away from low and medium speeds it gave me a small fright.’

‘the rs’s chassis mixes colossal grip from its 21-inch tyres with incredible composure, pinpoint accuracy and a dreamy balance, with extreme turn-in married to easy, super-progressive oversteer on corner exit,’ is Jethro’s verdict.

for all of us, however, the underlying feeling is that, to reach the rs’s star-high talents, you have to be travelling at speeds that make even a 12 hours of sebring winner question his sanity.

the 911 Gt3 rs is a phenomenal car, one of 2015’s greatest. But it’s also the closest Porsche has come to building a genuine race car for the road in many years, and ultimately that is its downfall. when you can only enjoy and exploit a car’s capabilities when you’re travelling at speeds best kept for the circuit, a road car starts to fail in its task. and it’s why the rs goes no further than the bottom step of the podium.


in association with

IN Evo UK'S ISSUE 213, SPLITTING PorSChE’S latest Gt3 rs from mclaren’s new 675lt came down to whether you preferred sausages to bratwurst. it was so close we couldn’t call it, but a week on the north coast 500 gives us the answer we’ve been searching so hard for.

there are a number of reasons for the lt’s triumph over its weissach nemesis, chief among them the leap the ‘longtail’ makes over previous mclaren road cars. ‘it’s an incredible step forward by mclaren,’ says marino. ‘it’s a car i just wanted to keep driving. it has that sense of occasion and connection with the driver so that, even when you’re not at 100 per cent, it’s still a blast and a challenge.’

Being a woking boy, Goodwin wants to place the mclaren higher than the fourth he gives it (for everyone else it’s a first- or second-place car): ‘this is probably one of the fastest cars that i’ve ever driven. i can’t remember many that have had this car’s phenomenal acceleration.’ it was dan’s number-one choice, though: ‘this is the first time I’ve ever really connected with a mclaren road car. it felt so sweet and immediate at medium speeds, but every time i had a proper thrash in it i stepped

out shaking with adrenalin. no other car did that for me and that’s why i’ve chosen it as my winner.’ Jethro also puts it top: ‘Because it gave me one of those unforgettable drives. the mclaren leaves nothing on the table. what an intense car. it’s like a racer on slicks: it gives you confidence to lean on the front end. The understeer from the 650s is gone and now it’s super-agile and accurate.’

it’s also the top car for nick: ‘the 675lt is everything you sensed lay latent in the 12c. you get an incredible connection with the front end. then you wake up to the brilliance in the suspension and drivetrain.’

like others, though, adam has concerns with the car’s wayward rear over bumps. ‘it does get excited at speed, and the frequency of that little light flashing on the dash betrays the electronics working overtime.’ dickie isn’t keen on the steering, voicing concerns about ‘something funny’ with the response either side of the straight-ahead, but, like the rest of us, the gains that mclaren has made in such a short space of time leave him gushing. ‘if this car is a road map for mclaren’s future direction, we can look forward to some truly stunning cars.’



WE WondErEd WhICh GLovEBox Porsche would leave the envelope of cash in this year, and after a fruitless search in the Gt3 rs, we found it in the cayman Gt4… and for those of you wise enough to dismiss internet conspiracies, here are the reasons why the cayman is placed either first or second by every eCoty 2015 judge.

‘Just sublime. and at no point in the test did i feel like a better driver than when i was driving the Gt4,’ explains nick before hastily retrieving his credit card from behind the bar and calling last orders. marino, like nick, places the Gt4 second behind the mclaren, but was no less impressed by the cayman: ‘it probably made me smile more than any other car here and it gave me thrills at all speeds.’

Jethro, another who put it behind the 675, is equally gushing with praise: ‘Physical, exciting, beautifully balanced, shot-through with class

and control, the Gt4 is everything you could ever hope a motorsport-department cayman to be. it’s perhaps the most involving car here.’ it’s second for dan, too, who adds: ‘the cayman has a really small window of understeer – more like a porthole – on initial turn-in, but you can so readily neutralise that on the throttle. that’s just one of the many ways in which it’s so engaging and responsive down a road. i don’t think i’d ever need more sports car than this.’

as for those of us who put the Gt4 top, Goodwin says: ‘almost perfect seating position, pedal weights and positioning. the gearshift is excellent and the Gt4’s extra power makes the cayman’s annoying gear ratios less of a problem.’ dickie goes further, saying: ‘that steely precision and control so characteristic of Preuninger-era Porsche puts it way above any previous cayman, but the way it feels alive and entertaining at all

times means it gives you more, more of the time. it can’t live with the Gt3 rs or 675lt for sheer pace, but it’s this greater accessibility and generosity that means it just nicks it for me.’

adam towler is no less forthcoming: ‘every so often, a car comes along that feels intrinsically right. the Gt4 is one such car. it’s inspiring to drive – that much is obvious in the first 250 metres. It’s the car here that best fits what i think an evo car should be like.’

me? i think it’s simply brilliant. it gave me the best drive of the year, of the last decade and possibly of my life. no, really, it’s that good. why? Because while the rs, lt, GtB and sV thrill and excite in their unique ways, it is the performance of their engines that ultimately dominates and dictates proceedings, be it the ferocious turbocharged thrust of the mclaren or ferrari, the feral roar of the lambo’s V12 or the thoroughbred howl of the RS’s flat-six.

however, in the cayman Gt4, any straight-line performance disadvantage is negligible. its Gt3-lite chassis is so adjustable, forgiving and precise that it doesn’t so much enter a corner tailing the bigger boys as edge its splitter out an inch or two, looking for a way past at every opportunity. you really need to be on your game in the more powerful cars to shake the less expensive car off, but you never feel you’re overstretching yourself in the Gt4.

no matter who stepped out of the Gt4, the opinion was the same: Porsche has created a masterpiece. it may not be the top choice for all of us, but every judge is in agreement that in 2015, this magazine’s mantra is best represented by the Porsche cayman Gt4, evo car of the year.

in association with

‘No matter who stepped out of the Cayman GT4, the opinion

was the same: Porsche has created a masterpiece’

A t C G d P J B M F n t r M S G t o t a l

Porsche cayman GT4 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 84

mcLaren 675LT 2nd 4th 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 82

Porsche 911 GT3 rs 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 72

Ferrari 488 GTB 4th 2nd 4th 4th 4th 5th 4th 4th 65

LamBorGhini avenTador sv 6th 6th 7th 5th 6th 4th 9th 8th 45

LoTus evora 400 5th 5th 6th 6th 10th 7th 8th 5th 44

chevroLeT camaro Z/28 9th 8th 10th 9th 5th 6th 7th 7th 35

seaT Leon cuPra suB8 7th 9th 9th 7th 9th 10th 5th 6th 34

mercedes-amG GT s 11th 11th 5th 8th 8th 9th 6th 9th 29

honda civic TyPe r 8th 7th 8th 10th 7th 8th 10th 11th 27

PeuGeoT 208 GTi By Ps 10th 10th 11th 11th 11th 11th 11th 10th 11

Left: how the judges voted. A first place earned 11 points, a second place 10 points, and so on down to a single point for a last place

078 www.evo.co.uk


troPICAL-LookInG BEAChES, hAUntInG castles, stunning mountains and extraordinary roads. the north coast 500 is incredible.

we kicked off in inverness (1), the capital of the highlands. with a little more time, we’d have visited the castle (2), the Culloden Battlefield (3), and taken a Jacobite cruise on loch ness (4). taming our own prehistoric monster (the Z/28) proved exciting on the run down to the loch…

we then headed southwest to aldourie castle (5) – a private-hire estate. after a quick group shot (p66) we headed for a rendezvous at an abandoned petrol station at achnasheen (6). it’s here you really start to sense the scale of the west highlands.

we then headed to the applecross Peninsula and gawped at the scenery at Bealach na Bà (7). we fuelled a few cars at the not-for-profit community filling station at Applecross, then went around the peninsula at dusk towards torridon (8). from here we skirted loch maree (9) en route to the myrtle Bank hotel in Gairloch (10). typically, a couple of days after our stay in Gairloch the northern lights put on a display outside the hotel (11).

the next two days were spent driving the a832 from Gairloch to kinlochewe, then further north past laide (12) and onwards to Braemore (13). it’s here that you can find Corrieshalloch Gorge (14) – a series of spectacular waterfalls. if you’re spending some time in the little loch Broom area (15), visit the beautiful mellon Udrigle beach (16) and maggie’s tea room in camusnagaul (17).

driving north through Ullapool (18), we then took the a835 to ledmore, the a837 to ardvreck castle, and then the a894 to the bridge at kylesku (19), where we took our cover shot. at durness we soaked up the splendour of ceannabeinne Beach (20). the a838 from scourie to durness is mostly single-track, but don’t be put off. look east towards cranstackie mountain (21) and you’re likely to see clouds burning in vortices over the peak.

onwards east, we stopped for a sunset shot on the causeway at the kyle of tongue (22), followed by a sprint to strathy and thurso (23). we’d recommend a trip to the castle of mey (24) – the northernmost inhabited castle on the British mainland. from here it was beer, dinner and sleep in wick at mackays hotel (25), then a run down the a9 past dunrobin castle (26), the Glenmorangie distillery (27) and back over the cromarty firth (28) to inverness.

with multiple runs over applecross and by little loch Broom, each car covered over 750 miles.

by n ic k t ro t t

NOW DRIVE IT!


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Art of speed

c o n s p i c u o u s a e r o o n h a t c h b a c k s . It’s a controversial subject, chiefly because if a Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 needs to devour roughly the length of football pitch per second to develop any meaningful downforce, what good is a sliver of plastic on the roof of an A-class?

Not a lot, apparently. Mark Webber once said he’d like to find a driver who could tell whether or not a second-gen Focus RS was wearing its wing ‘in any situation, ever’. That from a man who worked with Adrian Newey.

So where, with its primitive spoiler, does this leave the no-nonsense Integrale? Not exactly on the brink of the frippery wormhole (down which lurks the Escort Cosworth), but perhaps too close for comfort.

Lancia made many changes to its homologated hatch for the ‘Evo’ version of ’91, most backed by science, but the aluminium spoiler wasn’t one of them. There were bulbous new arches for widened tracks, reworked sparks and injectors gave the 2-litre engine real flexibility, comparatively lightweight Speedline wheels usurped the pepper-pots, and a pig-eyed expression was adopted with smaller but more intense headlights. Yet while all these saw competition, at first the spoiler’s only value was as a quick way of telling whether the ’Grale that just left your M3 for dead was

a hardcore Evo or just a garden model. (After all, both would do the job.)Every car was born with its tail meekly flat. However, factory-supplied

brackets meant owners could instigate a personality change by raising it through two angles of attack. And despite the lovely image above, no one went out half-cocked. You either had it bolt-upright and remortgaged the house to cover the fuel bills or kept it streamlined but risked your £23,000 hatchback-cum-supercar being mistaken for something more ordinary. If your spoiler just happened to have ‘MARTINI RACING’ scribed loud and proud along its length… well, the choice was made for you.

Eventually it did go racing. Already approved for the road, onto the rally cars it went during the ’92 season, and in the hands of Kankkunen and Auriol proved effective in reducing lift. It took the skill of those men, driving flat-out, probably on a loose surface, steering from the rear, and of course with no fuel bills to worry about, to exploit any gains, but that was hardly the point. The spoiler now possessed the rarest commodity in the world of aerodynamic road-car addenda: credibility.

Even so, what owners really loved was that it gave their cars, which took on the nose-down-tail-up likeness of a beagle furiously tracking a scent, even more charisma. In fact the car was now full to bursting. L

Lancia Delta Integrale Evo rear spoiler

C

by r ic h a r d l a n e | Pho t o Gr a Ph y by Ja m e s l i P m a n

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